HOI 


THE    PHILOSOPHY 
OF   CITIZENSHIP 


THE    PHILOSOPHY 
OF    CITIZENSHIP 

AN   INTRODUCTION  TO 
CIVICS    FOR    ADULTS 


BT 

E.    M.    WHITE 

Lecturer  in  Civics,  London  County  Council 


NEW  YORK 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1921 


•=-'••      •/•:?.*: 

.-«•  .    •      ..•.'.. 


.  .      • 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 

PAOK 

INTRODUCTORY          7 


CHAPTER  II 
WHAT  IS  CIVILISATION? 17 

CHAPTER   III 

THE  CONTENT  OF  CIVICS 34 

A.  GENERAL  REMARKS 

B.  A  SYLLABUS  OF  STUDY  FOR  ADULTS 

CHAPTER    IV 
THE  FUNDAMENTALS  OF  CITIZENSHIP          .  .    66 

CHAPTER  V 
SOCIAL  IDEAS 83 

CHAPTER  VI 
SPHERES  OF  REORGANISATION  .  .  .  .102 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  .  .  .121 


491193 


Much  of  the  matter  contained  in 
Chapter  III  has  appeared  in  the 
weekly  journal  Education,  and  is 
here  reproduced  by  kind  permission 
of  the  Editor. 

The  Author  states  that  this  book 
is  not  in  any  way  an  official  publi- 
cation. 


THE    PHILOSOPHY   OF 
CITIZENSHIP 


CHAPTER   I 
INTRODUCTORY 

Civics  is  the  subject  that  deals  with  everything 
appertaining  to  citizenship ;  past,  present,  and 
future  ;  local,  national,  and  human.  A  citizen's 
life  is  full  and  many-sided,  connected  with  many 
and  various  aspects  of  the  world,  so  the  study  of 
Civics  and  the  practice  of  citizenship  require 
an  education,  definite,  wide,  and  inspiring.  Civics 
pays  due  respect  to  a  catholic  culture,  but  it 
gives  small  regard  to  the  specialisms  that  are  little 
more  than  book-knowledge.  The  more  widely 
educated  a  citizen  is,  the  better  he  can  play  his 
part  in  the  community  ;  but  mere  examination- 
knowledge  is  not  education  nor  culture,  and  the 
citizen-student  must  learn  from  the  street  as 
well  as  the  study.  Book-knowledge  is  indeed 

7 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

indispensable,  but  one  of  the  most  insidious  forms 
cf  narrowness  may  be  engendered  by  mere  book- 
knowledge  ;  and  therefore  a  practical  knowledge 
of  environment  and  conditions,  of  problems  and 
ideals,  is  also  indispensable. 

The  illustrious  Turgot  once  said  that  "  the 
study  of  the  duty  of  citizenship  ought  to  be  the 
foundation  of  all  other  studies  "  ;  and  we  might 
say  that  Civics  is  the  connecting  link  between 
other  studies,  binding  them  also  to  life  and  reality. 
It  is  essentially  a  subject  of  connections  :  it  links 
all  times  and  periods  as  part  of  the  long  chain 
of  achievement  beaten  out  by  civilisation ;  it 
connects  all  subjects  as  part  of  the  life-story  of 
mankind,  and  reveals  them  as  aspects  of  its 
manifold  activity ;  it  carries  everyday  life  into 
the  school  and  study  ;  and  it  joins  the  needs  of 
to-day  to  the  results  of  yesterday  and  the  hopes 
of  to-morrow.  As  the  electric  spark  causes  the 
junction  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen  to  form  cleansing 
water,  so  the  spirit  of  Civics  joins  the  study  and 
the  street  to  form  an  element  of  purification  for 
the  city  and  country. 

No  student  of  Civics  in  its  full  sense  can  separate 
any  one  aspect  of  life  or  civilisation  from  the 
others.  He  may  be  interested  in  parish  councils, 
or  municipal  trading,  or  local  history,  or  imperial 

federation  ;    and  that  is  well,  so  long  as  he  re- 

8 


Introductory 


members  that  his  interest  lies  in  a  small  part  of  a 
great  whole  wherein  all  parts  overlap  and  mingle. 
The  algebraical  formulae  of  Europe  are  connected 
with  the  visions  of  Mohammed,  for,  had  not 
the  Prophet  dreamt  and  brooded,  the  faith  of 
Islam  would  not  have  evolved,  and  the  Arabians 
would  not  have  overrun  the  Mediterranean  shores 
nor  brought  their  learning  and  mathematics  into 
Europe ;  the  discovery  made  by  Columbus  is 
connected  with  the  spice  trade  of  the  East,  for 
had  not  the  Turks  closed  the  entrances  to  the 
riches  of  the  Orient,  no  passage  to  India  would 
have  been  searched  for  across  the  Atlantic.  Far 
more  are  these  interactions  evident  in  the  present, 
for  all  citizenship  is  now  more  self-conscious,  and 
therefore  more  clear-eyed,  and  it  can  discern 
that  all  spheres  coalesce  to  some  extent  with  other 
spheres :  that  town-planning  is  a  part  of  art,  and 
that  art-institutions  should  give  their  aid  to  the 
home  of  the  workman  ;  that  sanitation  is  con- 
nected with  education — for  all  young  citizens 
should  have  the  threefold  training  of  body,  mind, 
and  character — and  therefore  public  health  is  an 
important  aspect  of  education  ;  that  economics 
merges  into  ethics ;  that  poetry  may  be  akin  to 
politics,  as  the  dreams  of  such  statesmen  as 
Mazzini  and  Lincoln  testify,  as  well  as  the 
lines  of  William  Blake  : 

9 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

Bring  me  my  bow  of  burning  gold  ! 
Bring  me  my  arrows  of  desire  ! 
Bring  me  my  spear  !    O  clouds  unfold  t 
Bring  me  my  chariot  of  fire ! 

I  will  not  cease  from  mental  fight. 
Nor  shall  my  sword  sleep  in  my  hand, 
Till  we  have  built  Jerusalem 
In  England's  green  and  pleasant  land. 

The  wide  survey  which  it  is  necessary  to  take 
to  see  connections,  and  to  keep  evaluations  in  due 
proportion,  results  in  a  synthesis  in  the  citizen's 
mind  of  all  conditions  as  part  of  a  vast  whole, 
indivisible.  No  one  can  spend  his  energies  on 
every  part,  but  everyone  should  remember  the 
rest  of  the  field  while  working  in  his  own  furrow, 
and  should  occasionally  climb  up  to  look  around. 
Unless  the  citizen  abides  by  this  principle  he  will 
not  obtain  a  grasp  of  the  unity  of  life  and  progress, 
and  of  the  action  of  citizenship  upon  both. 

In  the  realm  of  Civics  realities  take  the  place 
of  words,  and  a  philosophy  of  Citizenship — the 
most  modern  of  subjects  growing  from  the  most 
ancient  of  roots — should  essentially  be  characterised 
by  the  features  of  the  most  evolved  form  of 
philosophy.  For,  like  all  else,  the  "  love  of 
wisdom  "  has  developed  in  its  content  and  method 
since  the  days  of  antiquity,1  Between  Aristotle 

*  See  Comte's  Law  of  the  Three  Stages  of  human  ideas  : 
the  theological  or  anthropomorphic,  the  metaphysical  or 
hypothetical,  and  the  positive  or  real  and  relative. 


10 


Introductory 


and  Bergson  a  long  span  of  civilisation  stretches, 
which  means  not  only  that  the  face  of  the  world 
and  the  life  thereon  have  changed,  but  also  that 
the  Mind  of  Man  has  enlarged  and  deepened, 
become  keener  and  richer.  For  our  purpose  we 
may  speak  of  philosophy  as  the  conclusions  of 
this  mind  when  applied  to  a  complete  view  of 
human  evolution,  or,  in  other  words,  philosophy 
is  common  sense  and  synthesis.  With  the  applica- 
tion of  common  sense  to  a  synthetic  view  of  life 
and  the  world,  there  necessarily  arises  the  relative 
method  of  judgment,  which  forms  all  conceptions 
and  statements  with  due  regard  to  circumstances 
and  times,  which  does  not  lay  down  the  law  of 
science  or  ethics,  "as  it  was  in  the  beginning,  is 
now,  and  ever  shall  be,"  but  which  recognises 
that,  with  change  of  environment,  knowledge, 
and  capacity,  there  will  come  change  of  ideas 
and  moral  issues.  This  means  bringing  the  notion 
of  evolution  into  the  sphere,  not  only  of  biology, 
but  of  all  aspects  of  human  life. 

Human  evolution  means  Civilisation,  the  two 
aspects  of  which  deeply  concern  the  citizen, 
for  to  some  extent  he  is  its  agent.  It  is  always 
misleading  to  use  mechanical  terms  in  reference 
to  life,  which  in  its  essence  is  non-mechanical, 
but  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  there  is  always  some- 
thing more  than  mechanics  involved  in  the  analogy, 

ii 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

we  may  speak  of  the  two  aspects  of  civilisation 
as  static  and  dynamic.     By  the  first  is  meant  all 
the  great  customs,  traditions,  institutions,  laws, 
governments,     religions,    moral     sanctions,    etc., 
developed  by   mankind   from   the   earliest   ages. 
Without  this  foundation  society  could  not  exist, 
and  all  this  accumulated  result  of  the  collective 
experience   and   experiment   of   the   human   race 
represents  the  Order  or  achievement  of  civilisation. 
Many    superficial    reformers    do    not    sufficiently 
appreciate  this  aspect ;   the  writer  has  more  than 
once  heard  the  exclamation,    "  I  should  like  to 
smash  up  the  whole  world  and  build  it  anew  !  " 
The  colossal  conceit  of  such  remarks  is  not  detected 
by  the  speakers ;    but  let  them  consider  that  for 
thousands  of  years  our  civilisation  has  been  in 
the  making,  and  millions  of  human  beings  have 
taken  part  in  the  process.     One  enlightened  pioneer 
imagines  that  he,  in  his  puny  life,  can  improve 
upon  the  accumulated  result  of  all  the  mistakes, 
strivings,  and  ideals,  of  all  the  myriad  complexities 
of   beauty    and    tragedy   produced   by   countless 
generations  throughout  the  centuries  ! 

It  is  the  realisation  of  the  slow  evolution  of 
mankind  during  the  ages  that  will  show  how 
impossible  it  is  by  any  method  to  "  create  a  new- 
mind  and  a  new  world  in  a  single  generation." 
In  spite  of  seeming  examples,  such  a  change  has 


12 


Introductory 


never  taken  place  in  so  short  a  time.  If  the 
surface  result  appears  to  have  come  with  compara- 
tive suddenness,  search  will  always  indicate  forces 
that  have  been  at  work  for  generations  to  produce 
such  a  result.1  This  truth  is  in  reality  one  of 
hope,  for  it  indicates  that,  however  inconspicuous 
the  labours  of  a  century  may  seem,  yet  their 
effects  pass  on  and  accumulate,  and  in  time  "  the 
old  order  change th,  yielding  place  to  new/' 

But  by  acknowledging  our  great  debt  to  our 
ancestors,  and  appreciating  the  achievements  of 
the  past,  we  must  not  be  led  into  the  mistake  of 
thinking  that  civilisation  is  complete,  so  that  there 
are  only  comparatively  small  changes  to  make. 
History  builds  on  history,  and  Civilisation  iiu plies 
more  than  achievement.  Order,  existing  alone, 
would  mean  stagnation.  To  consider  that  what 
has  been  done  is  all  that  can  be  accomplished 
is  to  belittle  the  present  and  future  in  the  same 
way  as  the  superficial  reformers,  who  regard  our 
ancestors  as  living  in  darkness  and  themselves 
as  the  first  children  of  light,  belittle  the  past. 
There  is  a  dynamic  aspect  to  civilisation,  in 
the  sense  of  its  evolution  ;  and  to  Order  must  be 

1  Usually  the  case  of  Germany  is  given  as  an  instance 
of  a  nation  being  changed  in  a  single  generation,  but  in 
reality  the  special  militarism  of  Prussia,  and  its  theory 
of  the  State,  began  in  the  early  eighteenth  century. 

'3 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

added  Progress,  a  continual  changing,  an  urging 
forward.  And  history  is  the  tale  of  the  balancing 
of  these  forces. 

Hence  tendencies  as  well  as  traditions  must  be 
observed  and  studied,  and  the  problem  lies  in 
ensuring  progress  while  maintaining  order.  As 
Bergson  says,  '  The  ideal  would  be  a  society 
always  in  progress  and  always  in  equilibrium  ; 
but  this  ideal  is  perhaps  unattainable."  Whether 
it  be  unattainable  in  the  distant  future  depends 
on  the  quality  of  citizenship  evolved ;  but  both 
aspects  are  necessary,  and  permanent  progress 
is  always  based  on  order.  Nobler  institutions 
must  be  formed,  change  be  made  as  change  is 
needed,  and  each  generation,  carrying  the  past 
with  it,  must  travel  farther  on  the  road  to 
civilisation. 

Citizenship  has  its  two  aspects  of  Order  and 
Progress,  and  he  who  wishes  to  be  useful  to  the 
community  must  subordinate  himself  to  the  order 
of  civilisation  and  participate  in  its  progress  if 
he  is  to  achieve  his  aim.  He  must  attain  the 
balance  between  appreciation  of  past  achieve- 
ments and  aspiration  after  future  ideals,  the 
link  between  which  forms  the  action  of  the  present. 
On  the  one  hand  he  subordinates  himself,  but 
in  no  servile  sense,  to  the  customs  and  laws  of 
his  city  and  country,  and  is  willingly  obedient 


Introductory 

to  them  ;  he  acknowledges  himself  as  part  of  a 
great  whole ;  and  he  regards  the  work  of  his 
ancestors  with  respect.  Professor  Urwick  calls 
the  quality  of  subordination  the  most  obvious 
and  important  fact  of  social  life,  and  the  necessity 
for  putting  the  good  of  the  community  before 
individual  interests  has  been  recognised  by  the 
earliest  thinkers.  "  You  are  a  citizen,"  says 
Epictetus,  "  and  part  of  the  world.  .  .  .  The 
duty  of  a  citizen  is  in  nothing  to  consider  his  own 
interest  distinct  from  that  of  others." 

But  mere  subordination  is  not  all  that  the 
citizen  can  do  to  respect  and  maintain  the  Order 
of  civilisation  :  he  can  work  in  the  various  institu- 
tions of  his  time,  and  by  taking  his  share  in  their 
administration  he  can  carry  on  what  has  originated 
in  the  past.  Such  activities  and  such  subordina- 
tion are  as  far,  perhaps,  as  the  majority  of  average, 
worthy  citizens  go  ;  but  the  complete  citizen  is 
not  satisfied  with  all  the  present  conditions  of 
Order,  and  though  he  appreciates  their  value 
in  the  past,  he  is  zealous  for  reform,  and  wishes 
to  see  each  generation,  including  his  own,  reaching 
a  higher  stage.  Therefore  he  takes  interest  in  the 
problems  of  his  times,  whether  local,  or  national, 
or  world-wide,  and  he  actively  participates  in 
schemes  for  betterment.  In  this  way  he  enters 
the  stream  of  modern  tendencies  and  uses  his 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

capacities  for  the  Progress  of  civilisation.  A 
study  of  eminent  citizens  of  all  periods  will  reveal 
a  unity  of  spirit  among  a  variety  of  activities,  for, 
in  addition  to  self-expression,  or  earning  a  liveli- 
hood, or  performing  duties,  such  citizens  occupied 
themselves  with  the  affairs  of  their  time  and  place, 
and  acted  in  some  definite  way  to  enhance  the 
well-being  of  the  community. 

The  study  and  practice  of  citizenship  form  a 
science  and  an  art.  Like  the  scientist,  the  Civics 
student  gathers  accurate,  definite  knowledge 
concerning  the  many  ramifications  of  the  subject 
— and  there  are  few  byways  into  which  it  does 
not  penetrate — and  he  analyses  and  criticises, 
and  finally  co-ordinates  his  knowledge  to  form 
laws  and  conclusions  in  relation  to  his  times.  And, 
like  the  artist,  the  citizen  expresses  himself  and 
his  ideals  in  social  life.  In  Professor  Geddes' 
words,  "  Civics  is  the  application  of  Social  Survey 
to  Social  Service."  The  purpose  of  the  social 
survey  is  social  service  ;  that  is,  the  aim  of  Civics 
is  not  only  to  give  knowledge  of  the  institutions 
of  society  and  their  growth,  but  also  to  inspire 
an  active  devotion  to  the  community. 


CHAPTER   II 

WHAT  IS   CIVILISATION? 

CIVILISATION  is  not  only  a  state,  but  a  process  ; 
-  there  is  in  it  a  grand  unfinish,  and  its  urge  is 
unescapable.  It  gradually  spreads  over  wider 
areas  and  its  elements  penetrate  more  deeply 
into  the  habits  and  thoughts  of  the  citizen  whether 
he  is  aware  of  the  process  or  not  ;  for  humanity 
learns  in  spite  of  itself.  Only  those  who  regard 
civilisation  as  a  mere  stage,  and  not  as  an  aim, 
and  who  interpret  it  as  consisting  of  all  the  factors 
which  make  up  our  present  system  of  living,  can 
speak  of  its  "  cure."  The  goal,  however,  is  not 
yet  universally  and  consciously  a  definite  one, 
nor  the  road  clearly  marked.  "  The  harmony  is 
behind  rather  than  before,"  while  "  the  road  has 
been  created  pari  passu  with  the  act  of  travelling, 
being  nothing  but  the  direction  of  this  act  itself."1 

1  Bergson,  in  speaking  of  evolution  in  his  great  work, 
Creative  Evolution,  p.  54.  It  must,  however,  be  borne  in 
mind  that  evolution  and  civilisation  are  not  identical — 
the  former  implies  constant  unfolding,  but  the  latter,  in 
v  addition  to  growth,  means  the  grown  things,  the  formed 
institutions  which  humanity  has  made. 

17  B 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

How  then  has  civilisation  come,  and  what  are 
its  bases  and  factors  ?  Since  the  citizen  is  not 
only  the  product  but  also  the  agent  of  civilisation, 
it  behoves  him  to  make  some  endeavour  to  under- 
stand the  full  content  of  a  term  which  is  too  often 
used  loosely  and  with  little  comprehension. 

Civilisation  is  based  on,  but  does  not  consist 
solely  of,  the  material,  the  physical,  the  economic  ; 
in  fact,  on  Mother  Earth  and  her  products.  With- 
out the  earth  there  would  be  no  civilisation  as  we 
know  it — an  obvious  truth  when  expressed,  but 
one  not  often  considered  as  the  foundation  of 
thought  on  the  subject.  The  primary  need  is 
food  ;  clothing  and  shelter  come  next,  and,  lacking 
these  three,  or  a  sufficiency  of  them,  a  civilised 
community  cannot  be  evolved.  Christianity  recog- 
nised the  importance  of  the  physical  in  the  prayer, 
"  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread  "  ;  Auguste 
Comte  placed  the  "  instinct  of  nutrition  "  first  in 
his  list  of  human  instincts,  basing  the  "  noble  on 
the  less  noble  "  ;  Karl  Marx  built  his  theory  on 
"  the  materialist  basis "  ;  and  Buckle,  in  his 
History  of  Civilisation  in  England,  discusses  the 
influence  exercised  by  physical  laws  on  the  organ- 
isation of  society  before  elaborating  his  theme. 
All  these,  and  numerous  others,  form  a  consensus 
of  agreement  that  concrete  facts  must  control  all 
theories.  This  truth  is  brought  home  to  us  if 

18 


What  is  Civilisation  ? 

we  carry  out  the  extremely  interesting  and  valu- 
able exercise  of  trying  to  realise  what  would 
happen  if  everybody  possessed  sufficient  to  live 
in  moderate  comfort.  The  changes  in  the  world's 
standard  of  morals  and  manners,  in  law  courts 
and  prisons,  in  the  whole  of  our  social  life,  would 
be  drastic  and  stupendous. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  must  never  be  forgotten 
that  a  material  basis  does  not  imply  that  all 
else  is  material.  The  noble  is  based  on  the  less 
noble,  and  though,  for  human  beings,  there  is 
nothing  without  the  material,  yet  a  vast  universe 
of  thought,  feeling,  aspiration  and  other  spiritual 
qualities  has  rested  upon  it,  otherwise  there  would 
have  been  no  civilisation. 

Next  to  the  physical  basis  comes  that  of  social 
life,  beginning  with  the  family.  Here  man  is  not 
an  individual,  but  has  loves,  hopes,  fears,  aims 
and  responsibilities  for  others.  Whether,  as  Fiske 
believed,  the  institution  of  the  family  grew  as 
the  result  of  the  prolongation  of  human  infancy 
necessitating  longer  care  of  the  mother  and  child, 
or  through  the  domestication  of  animals,1  or  as 
the  result  of  the  home-making  proclivities  of  the 
woman,  or  from  other  causes,  matters  not  so 
much  as  does  its  existence  and  its  results  in  bring- 

*  An  interesting  theory  advanced  by  E.  Jenks  in  hig 
The  State  and  the  Nation. 

19 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

ing  about  the  subordination  of  selfish  ends  to  social 
ones.  The  family  forms  the  social  key,  and  leads 
to  the  beginnings  of  civilisation  with  the  formation 
of  the  city  (developed  from  village  communities, 
which  themselves  were  founded  by  families). 

As  the  derivation  of  the  word  indicates,  civitas, 
or  the  city,  contained  the  elements  of  modern 
civilisation.  Professor  Geddes  recognises  this  when 
he  remarks  that  many  too  often  forget  "  the 
literal  meaning  of  that  word  [civilisation],  vitally 
civic  as  it  was,  and  as  it  must  for  ever  be/'  In 
the  city  human  qualities  were  developed  that 
could  not  emerge  in  village  life,  for  the  needs  of 
a  city  brought  into  play  capacities  hitherto 
uncalled  for.  The  instance  of  architecture  alone 
will  show  what  creative  powers  were  evolved, 
which  no  village  could  have  produced.  The  city 
also  enabled  community  life  to  adjust  itself,  to 
experiment  in  constitutions,  to  make  mistakes 
and  rectify  them,  to  search  for  political  and  social 
solutions  to  the  problems  arising  ever  new  with 
changing  conditions ;  and  nowhere  can  these 
attempts  be  better  studied  than  in  the  cases  of 
Greece  and  Italy.  It  may  be  noted  that  in  ancient 
times  the  study  of  social  evolution  runs  parallel 
with  that  of  religion,  for  religion  also  was  based 
on  family,  city,  country,  as  the  very  names 
Jerusalem,  Athens,  Rome  testify. 

20 


What  is  Civilisation  ? 

With  the  city  may  be  associated  the  country 
or  nation,  which  evolved  as  travelling,  conquest, 
and  knowledge  of  neighbouring  cities  gradually 
contracted  distance.  In  the  city,  and  later  in 
the  country,  is  found  the  need  for  co-operation 
with  a  view  to  the  common  good  ;  and  this  has 
brought  about  the  establishment  of  what  G.  K. 
Chesterton  calls  "  those  great  agreements  which 
constitute  the  romantic  achievements  of  civilisa- 
tion." Agreements,  in  city  or  nation,  mark  the 
progress  of  civilisation  ;  wars — the  result  of  dis- 
agreement— whether  racial,  national,  religious,  or 
commercial,  do  not  destroy,  but  retard,  civilisation. 
The  final  agreements,  amid  differences  of  race, 
nation,  and  creed,  have  yet  to  be  achieved,  for  the 
climax  of  civilisation  is  reached,  not  with  city 
or  country,  but  with  humanity  as  a  whole.  It 
is  an  ideal  yet  to  be  developed,  but  its  recognition 
as  an  ideal  is  a  step  towards  its  realisation — a 
consummation  which  will  come  as  inevitably  as 
did  the  union  of  the  warring  cities  of  mediaeval 
Italy  or  the  federation  of  the  United  States. 

Among  the  centres  already  mentioned  have 
grown  various  institutions  making  eventually  for 
civilisation.  A  few  words  must  be  given  to  the 
civilising  influence  of  that  human  invention, 
spoken  and  written  language,  which  was  an 
additional  method  of  expression  and  first  gave 

21 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

definiteness  to  thought.  Later  on  the  fertilising 
power  of  conversation  and  the  clash  of  ideas 
carried  mankind  further  towards  the  relative 
truths  it  has  gradually  formulated. 

Political  institutions  have  been  mainly  experi- 
mental, in  Greece,  Rome,  mediaeval  Europe,  and 
in  the  modern  world  ;  but  the  final  politics  that 
will  leave  mankind  free  to  devote  its  genius  and 
energies  to  art  and  morality  is  not  yet  substan- 
tiated. Some  military  organisations  in  the  past 
have  made  for  progress  in  various  ways :  the  war 
of  Greece  against  Persia  was  a  stand  against  a 
deluge  that  would  have  drowned  the  gifts  Europe 
has  been  able  to  bequeath  ;  William  the  Silent's 
resistance  to  Spain  crushed  the  power  of  intoler- 
ance in  religion ;  the  American  War  of  Inde- 
pendence claimed  and  obtained  freedom  ;  and  the 
late  European  War  was  civilisation's  effort  to  rid 
itself  of  military  arrogance. 

Social  status  and  social  customs  have  also  had 
their  effect  and  have  preserved  order,  in  the 
resulting  relationships,  friendly  or  hostile,  between 
the  two  great  classes  of  mankind,  during  the 
gradations  that  have  taken  place  from  slavery 
through  serfdom  to  the  wages  system.  The  first 
method  of  getting  work  done  that  was  despised, 
was  by  forcing  it  on  slaves.  Only  in  the  twen- 
tieth century  is  the  mistake  dissipated  that 

22 


What  is  Civilisation  ? 

physical  labour  is  menial ;  and  the  snobs  of  to-day 
would  be  as  surprised  to  see  the  valuation  given 
to  such  service  by  succeeding  generations  as  would 
be  the  fops  of  the  eighteenth  century  to  see  the 
esteem  in  which  art  and  literature  are  now  held. 
After  the  days  of  slavery  had  died,  serfdom  seemed 
to  be  the  only  method  of  retaining  stability  and 
obtaining  cultivation  of  the  soil  in  a  society 
occupied  with  the  feuds  and  crusades  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  Succeeding  to  serfdom  came  the  wage- 
earning,  capitalistic  state  of  commercialism,  which 
has  had  its  final  break-up  heralded  by  the  National 
Service  demanded  by  the  country  in  its  hour  of 
need  ;  for  the  European  \Var  has  brought  home 
to  the  minds  of  all,  as  has  never  been  done  before, 
the  realisation  of  the  true  basis  on  which  the 
protection  and  even  the  continuance  of  a  nation 
rests.  Physical  labour  is  taking  its  place  as  the 
recognised  foundation  of  the  life  of  the  world, 
and  therefore  of  the  continuance  of  civilisation. 

Religion,  art,  and  education  have  been  powerful 
factors  in  deepening,  uplifting,  and  expanding  the 
spirit  of  humanity  on  its  journey.  Art,  in  the 
form  of  literature,  music,  sculpture,  painting,  and 
architecture,  has  given  the  expansion  and  sense 
of  joy  that  creativeness  evinces,  has  made  mani- 
fest the  soul  of  our  race  to  itself,  and  has  expressed 
dreams  that  are  to  be  realised  in  ages  to  come. 

23 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

And  the  expression  has  been  progressive :  the 
calm  and  balance  of  Phidias  were  supplemented 
by  the  feeling  of  Michael  Angelo,  as  the  stateliness 
of  Greek  temples  was  succeeded  by  the  aspira- 
tion of  Gothic  cathedrals.  Education  gradually 
prepares  the  citizenship  of  the  greater  civilisa- 
tion to  be ;  it  is  the  handing  on  of  the  legacy  of 
the  past  to  the  present  so  that  it  may  be  enriched 
for  the  future  ;  and  it  can  become  the  strongest 
force  in  moulding  citizens  and  in  hastening  the 
advance  of  civilisation.  When  the  inspiring  story 
of  civilisation  is  taken  as  the  foundation  of  all 
teaching,  and  all  "  subjects  "  are  connected  with 
that  story,  the  young  citizen  will  be  imbued  with 
the  sense  of  a  vast  movement,  and  will  wish  to 
take  his  share  in  forwarding  it.  Religion  has 
formed  sanctions  and  promoted  discipline  of 
life — both  necessary  functions,  which,  however, 
limited  by  past  conditions,  have  often  been 
narrowly  conceived.  But  now,  when  the  whole 
world  is  open  to  us,  the  spirit  of  civilisation  dis- 
penses with  narrow  forms,  and  is  inspired  by  the 
collective  wisdom  and  approval  and  actions  of 
all  who  have  preceded  us.  Ethical  traditions, 
such  as  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  precepts  of 
Buddha  and  Confucius,  and  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  have  originated  from  religion,  and  their 
dominating  influence  is  undoubted.  And  not  only 

24 


What  is  Civilisation  ? 

with  regard  to  precepts  and  sanctions  has  religion 
been  an  auxiliary  and  factor  of  civilisation,  but 
also  in  the  sphere  of  social  life  its  influence  has 
deeply  penetrated.  All  the  manifestations  and 
outgrowths  of  the  religious  spirit — churches, 
temples,  monasteries,  friars,  nuns,  missionaries, 
gurus,  fellowships,  societies,  charities,  hospitals, 
etc. — have  changed  society  and  left  their  mark 
on  the  human  spirit. 

The  Catholic-Feudal  age  was  of  much  importance 
in  giving  a  bent  to  the  moulding  of  civilisation. 
Far  from  being  dark,  the  Middle  Ages  (here  taken 
roughly  as  from  the  fourth  to  the  fourteenth 
centuries)  fixed  many  permanent  qualities  on 
Western  Europe,  evolved  many  valuable  insti- 
tutions, and  strengthened  the  general  civic  sense. 
The  art  and  culture  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  Roman 
organisation  and  law,  had  commenced  their  work 
for  civilisation,  and  were  to  continue,  after  some 
centuries,  at  the  Renaissance  ;  the  discoveries  of 
science  and  exploration  which  widened  the  world 
and  the  conceptions  of  men,  besides  giving  more 
power  to  their  hands,  were  to  provide  their  aid 
afterwards ;  but  in  the  meantime  medievalism 
also  carried  on  the  torch  of  human  progress, 
though  into  different  spheres,  chiefly  the  social. 
It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  many  mistakes  were 
made,  that  narrowness  and  ignorance  were  not 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

absent,  and  that  some  standards  were  lower. 
But,  judged  by  the  more  enlightened  later  centuries, 
what  age  could  not  have  the  same  declared  about 
it  ?  In  considering  so  vast  a  process  as  the 
growth  of  civilisation,  the  citizen,  its  product  and 
agent,  must  give  appreciation  before  criticism, 
and  must  gather  the  facts  and  movements  that 
have,  on  the  whole,  made  for  progress. 

In  itself  the  organisation  of  the  Catholic  Church 
acted  as  a  unifying  principle,  and  in  spite  of 
abuses,  gathered  tribes  and  nations  into  a  higher 
moral  atmosphere.  And  the  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
under  its  blessing,  also  made  an  attempt,  prema- 
ture though  it  was,  at  the  unification  of  Western 
Europe  ;  in  later  centuries  the  crusading  expe- 
ditions were,  too,  an  outcome  of  the  unifying 
principle.  The  inspiration  of  the  Catholic  Church 
produced  those  splendours  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the 
cathedrals,  and  it  is  of  interest  to  note  that  from 
France,  that  country  so  eminently  in  the  fore- 
front of  civilisation,  came  also  the  first  Gothic 
architecture.  Noble  architecture  also  shows  itself 
in  the  gildhalls  and  castles,  symbolising  the  dig- 
nity of  the  artisan  and  the  power  of  the  sword 
in  mediaeval  times.  Of  social  activities,  mention 
must  specially  be  made  of  the  Benedictines,  who, 
with  their  ideal  of  labour  as  well  as  prayer,  were 
truly  civic  in  their  spirit  and  work.  An  inter- 

26 


What  is  Civilisation  ? 

esting  point  with  regard  to  the  civic  influence  of 
monasteries  has  been  noted  by  Mr.  Victor  Bran- 
ford  :  "  Between  the  decay  of  ancient  and  the 
rise  of  mediaeval  cities,  the  monasteries  kept 
alive  in  the  West  the  civic  ideal  of  creating  a 
milieu  for  the  life  of  the  spirit." 

The  passage  of  slavery  into  serfdom  in  the  early 
Middle  Ages  has  already  been  mentioned  ;  but  the 
importance  of  parish  life  must  be  pointed  out, 
for  it  provided  for  the  exercise  of  some  freedom 
and  the  beginnings  of  local  institutions  of  govern- 
ment. And  in  the  growing  towns,  themselves  a 
product  of  medievalism,  the  civic  sense  was 
quickened  by  means  of  the  gilds,  which  supplied 
by  their  training,  not  only  workers,  but  citizens. 
Increase  of  trade  brought  intercourse  with  other 
peoples  and  necessarily  bonds  with  them,  and 
all  which  makes  for  unity  can  serve  civilisation. 
As  has  already  been  stated,  the  town  or  city  is 
a  permanent  basis  of  civilisation,  and  therein  was 
initiated  the  democracy  of  the  Greeks  and  the 
self-government  of  the  municipalities  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  With  the  founding  of  parliaments  came  the 
idea  of  representative  government,  not  conceived 
in  ancient  times,  but  destined  to  mould  all  nations. 

Gradually  there  came  a  separation  of  the  powers 
of  Church  and  State,  and  with  this  a  quickening 
in  the  shaping  of  the  nations  that  had  arisen  in 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

the  Middle  Ages.  As  secular  powers  distinct 
from  the  Church,  Britain,  France,  Italy,  Spain, 
Holland,  Portugal,  and  Germany  gave  their  genius 
to  the  forwarding  of  civilisation.  The  shaping 
of  new  instruments  of  thought  by  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Teutonic  and  Romance  languages  wa? 
no  mean  achievement  of  this  period,  and  the 
establishment  of  colleges,  universities,  and  schools 
enhanced  culture.  The  great  tales  and  sagas  of 
Roland,  Arthur,  and  the  rest  were  composed ; 
the  drama  was  initiated  in  the  form  of  mystery 
and  morality  plays  ;  and  literature  culminated  in 
Dante,  the  master  of  the  thought  and  learning 
of  his  time.  In  his  work  is  found  also  a  sign 
of  the  elevation  of  womanhood  that  the  ideals  of 
chivalry  and  the  worship  of  Mary  the  Madonna 
largely  helped  to  bring  about.  The  ideal  is  always 
to  some  extent  a  reflection  of  the  real,  and  just 
as  the  Greek  goddesses  could  not  have  been  con- 
ceived unless  Greek  women  had  possessed  their 
characteristics,  so  Beatrice,  who  typifies  an  ideal, 
was  created  from  her  fellow-women. 

It  is  thus  seen,  from  this  short  sketch  of  their 
achievements,  that  the  Middle  Ages  can  lay  no 
small  claim  to  an  influential  share  in  the  story  of 
civilisation. 

The  rise  of  nationalism,  especially  among  Euro- 
pean peoples,  has,  with  other  tendencies,  produced 

28 


What  is  Civilisation  ? 

modern  humanity,  which  is  now  expressing  itself 
in  terms  of  its  own  qualities  and  activities  rather 
than  in  those  of  a  church  or  dogma.  The  concep- 
tion of  the  State  in  the  modern  sense,  and  of 
all  its  implications,  is  one  still  in  process  of 
elaboration,  and  it  exerts  increasing  influence  on 
other  conceptions,  such  as  the  content  of  morality, 
the  aims  of  education,  the  status  of  woman.  In 
another  sphere  also  has  theology  (which  is  not 
the  same  as  religion)  declined  before  the  search 
and  adventure  of  man,  and  that  the  scientific. 
Investigation  and  discovery,  hypothesis  and  proof, 
have  made  a  firm  foundation  on  which  further 
knowledge  may  build.  Exploration  of  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  has  given  us  our  place  in  the  uni- 
verse and  has  made  known  to  us  the  world,  our 
home ;  while  the  patient  labours  of  scientists 
have  displayed  causes  and  processes  for  the 
enrichment  of  knowledge,  have  provided  remedies 
and  inventions  for  the  relief  of  pain,  and  can 
be  utilised  to  the  utmost  service  of  humanity. 

Upheavals  in  another  form  have  been  caused 
by  the  assertion  of  human  rights  and  liberties  : 
the  Civil  War  in  England  in  the  seventeenth  century 
and  the  French  Revolution  have  been  followed 
by  the  rise  of  democracy  with  its  unknown 
potentialities ;  the  Russian  Revolution  has  extended 
the  area  and  introduced  more  possibilities,  though 

29 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

here  the  subsequent  events  have  gone  astray 
from  Civilisation's  course.  Through  the  hands 
of  democracy,  that  is,  of  citizens,  will  come  the 
reconstruction  so  looked  for  since  the  war ;  and 
the  consciousness  of  the  increased  importance  of 
"  the  people  "  can  be  traced  in  modern  histories, 
which  give  greater  space  to  social  phenomena 
and  economics  and  pay  less  regard  to  dynastic 
affairs. 

In  manifold  interactions  the  foregoing  factors 
have  made  the  mankind  of  to-day,  which  shows 
in  its  actions  and  strivings  two  main  tendencies 
that  make  for  civilisation  and  are  signs  of  its 
advance. 

The  one  tendency  is  an  increased  sensitiveness, 
both  of  depth  and  extent,  in  human  nature, 
resulting  in  an  increased  capacity  for  pain,  but 
also  in  wider  interests,  greater  joy,  and  fuller  life. 
Which  of  our  preceding  generations  could  grasp 
the  universe  with  such  understanding  and  such 
control  of  natural  forces  ?  Who  could  give  a  richer 
content  to  the  phrase  "  heirs  of  all  the  ages  "  ? 
Who  among  the  ancient  or  mediaeval  lovers  could 
understand  sex-love  as  the  modern  man  and 
woman  realise  it  in  all  its  complexity  and  fulness  ? 
Wrhat  period  of  time  has  seen  a  greater  sense  of 
the  widening  scope  for  service  of  every  citizen  ? 
For  not  only  in  content  of  knowledge  and  range 

3° 


' 


What  is  Civilisation  ? 

of  feeling,  but  also  in  the  area  of  responsibilities 
— and  especially  in  this  area — a  more  sensitive 
spirit  is  causing  humanity  consciously  to  forward 
civilisation.  We  realise  that  there  are  elements 
in  life  that  we  can  tolerate  no  longer — poverty, 
disease,  and  war  have  to  be  minimised  and  finally 
exterminated. 

And  the  other  tendency  is  a  growth  of  self- 
consciousness  in  the  race.  Pascal's  saying,  "  The 
whole  succession  of  men  during  the  course  of  so 
many  ages  should  be  looked  upon  as  one  man, 
ever-living  and  constantly  learning,"  is  being 
more  widely  comprehended  and  accepted.  The 
self-consciousness  of  humanity,  of  itself  as  an 
entity  and  of  its  power  to  direct  its  own  evolution, 
is  a  long  stride  on  the  road  to  civilisation.  Con- 
scious of  its  past,  and  aware  as  never  before  of 
the  history  of  the  planet,  the  soul  of  humanity 
turns  to  new  worlds  to  conquer,  within  itself  as 
well  as  without.  It  recognises  itself  as  a  unity 
whose  welfare  as  a  whole  has  to  be  established, 
so  that  there  are  no  submerged  or  parasitic  parts. 
It  knows  now  that  its  fate  lies  in  its  own  hands  ; 
it  can  make  of  itself  what  it  will.  The  greatest 
hope  for  the  future  rests  in  the  fact  that  humanity 
is  at  last  taking  up  its  own  burden  and  respon- 
sibility and  guidance  with  courage  and  deter- 
mination. It  wishes  its  members  to  understand 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

each  other,  and  invents  a  universal  language,  not 
to  supersede,  but  to  be  added  to  the  mother- 
tongue  ;  it  realises  the  full  horror  and  waste  of 
war  and  initiates  a  League  of  Nations  as  a  step 
towards  the  final  elimination  of  the  horror  and 
waste. 

By  natural  selection  and  the  survival  of  the 
fittest  has  evolution  proceeded  until  it  reached 
humanity.  Then  human  nature  intervened, 
slightly  at  first  and  semi-unconsciously  ;  but  now 
the  full  consciousness  is  awakening  and  a  power 
above  biological  evolution  is  arising.  It  is  a 
power  personal  where  nature  is  impersonal,  spiritual 
where  nature  is  material,  moral  where  nature  is 
relentless,  bent  on  amelioration  where  nature  is 
merely  concerned  with  continuance  and  renewal. 
That  power  is  ourselves,  the  creators  of  civilisation. 

Thus  we  arrive  at  some  sort  of  definition  of 
civilisation  in  its  twentieth-century  sense.  Those 
who  regard  it  as  a  diseased  condition  needing  a 
cure,  and  those  who  identify  it  with  outward 
changes  such  as  railways  and  telephones,  or  even 
with  intellectual  achievements,  take  but  a  super- 
ficial view  of  the  great  story  of  mankind  and  its 
progress.  True  history  is  the  story  of  the  energy, 
the  will,  the  endurance,  the  patience,  the  life 
that  works  on  the  unfinish  of  the  earth  and  pro- 
duces civilisation  ;  it  is  the  story  of  change,  of 

32 


What  is  Civilisation  ? 

humanity's  guidance  of  its  own  nature  and  the 
nature  around  it.  The  true  account  of  man's 
life  on  earth  has  yet  to  be  written  in  words.  But 
there  is  progress,  even  if  it  is  interrupted,  for  the 
human  spirit  in  its  varied  course  pushes  its  way 
in  all  directions  and  against  every  barrier.  It 
deviates,  it  tries  all  opinions,  ways,  and  ideals  ; 
it  lives  them  and  modifies  them.  It  has  made 
mistakes  and  woven  myriads  of  complexities  in 
beauty  and  tragedy,  but  it  goes  on  towards  the 
goal  of  civilisation,  which  is  the  complete  unity 
of  mankind. 

Not  all  the  institutions  of  our  time  are  neces- 
sarily signs  of  civilisation ;  any  aspects  of  social 
life  which  disintegrate — tend  to  make  units 
instead  of  unity — are  enemies  to  civilisation ; 
those  which  express  co-operation  and  service  are 
its  auxiliaries.  Civilisation  may  be  said  to  be 
the  conquest  of  egoism  by  altruism,  a  conquest 
which  has  been  increasing  since  the  dawn  of  human 
history.  The  progress  has  been  embodied  in 
labour,  village  and  city  life,  politics,  religion, 
science,  art,  biography,  and  through  these  revela- 
tions of  the  spirit  of  civilisation  we  know  that 
the  human  race  goes  ever  forward  and  growth  is 
the  great  law  of  the  earth. 


33 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   CONTENT   OF   CIVICS 

A.  GENERAL  REMARKS. 

Civics  as  a  subject  is  yet  in  the  making,  but  it 
is  one  that  will  prove  of  great  importance  in 
future  education.  Victor  Branford  asks,  "  Cannot 
a  system  of  education  be  designed  and  developed 
capable  of  imparting  to  personality  the  bearing 
and  beauty  of  the  aristocrat,  the  moral  dignity 
of  the  craftsman,  the  culture  and  vision  of  the 
thinker,  and  add  thereto  the  urge  and  uplift  of 
citizenship  ?  "  Undoubtedly  such  a  type  of  edu- 
cation will  gradually  come  when  our  obsession 
for  mere  book-learning  has  diminished  and  our 
range  of  powers  in  dealing  with  young  people 
has  extended ;  and  then  we  shall  not  be  able  to 
exclude  the  teaching  of  Civics,  that  "  last  and 
youngest  branch  of  Science,  as  yet  but  a  little 
noticed  bud  on  the  vast  ever-spreading  tree  of 
knowledge  [which]  may  before  long  be  recognised 
as  one  of  the  most  fruitful  of  all."  But  even 

34 


The  Content  of  Civics 

Professor  Geddes,  from  whose  writings  the  last 
sentence  is  quoted,  tends  to  limit  the  scope  of 
Civics  to  the  study  of  cities ;  and  among  ordinary 
citizens  only  vague  notions  prevail  as  to  its 
content.  Usually  it  is  considered  to  deal  with 
local  institutions  and  methods  of  government,  or 
at  most  to  include  some  kind  of  regional  survey, 
with  maps  and  charts.  It  does  include  both  these 
fields,  but  it  stretches  beyond  them,  extending  to 
all  that  appertains  to  citizenship,  and  embracing 
a  knowledge  of  the  main  factors  in  the  story  of 
civilisation.  The  Civics  student  may  well  adopt 
Lord  Morley's  dictum  of  "  preferences  but  no 
exclusions." 

There  are  three  main  aspects  from  which  Civics 
may  be  regarded  :  the  geographical,  the  historical, 
and  the  occupational  or  economic.  The  first 
includes  a  study  of  man's  surroundings  and  their 
effect  on  him  ;  soil,  coast,  minerals,  forests,  moun- 
tains, are  all  important  factors  in  environmental 
influence.  How  far  has  the  life  of  settled  industry 
bordering  on  the  Nile  been  determined  by  that 
river  ?  In  mountainous  countries  like  Scotland 
and  Switzerland,  why  are  sheep  reared  in  one  and 
cattle  in  another  ?  A  geological  survey  shows 
that  the  hard  impervious  gneiss  foundations  in 
Switzerland  provide  a  moist,  rich  pasture  for 
cattle,  while  the  limestone  in  Scotland  allows 

35 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

water  to  permeate,  and  the  dry  grass  suitable 
for  sheep  is  produced.  Thus  the  industries  of 
the  people  are  literally  based  on  different  founda- 
tion-stones. Again,  how  far  did  the  mountainous 
character  of  Greece  decide  that  separate  States 
should  develop,  and  culminate  in  the  magnificent 
concentrated  civilisation  represented  by  the  city- 
state  of  Athens  ? 

But  the  last  case  reminds  us  of  the  historical 
aspect  of  Civics,  for  not  only  must  the  effect  of 
nature  and  environment  on  man  be  considered ; 
his  manipulation  of  nature  and  environment  form 
another  aspect  of  the  subject.  To  quote  Professor 
Geddes  again :  "A  city  is  more  than  a  place  in 
space,  it  is  a  drama  in  time.  ...  To  realise  the 
geographic  and  historic  factors  of  cur  city's  life 
is  the  first  step  to  comprehension  of  the  present, 
one  indispensable  to  any  attempt  at  a  scientific 
forecast  of  the  future."  Some  ardent  citizens  are 
apt  to  overlook  this  historical  basis  and  to  blame 
existing  conditions  without  realising  their  worth 
in  the  past ;  but  it  can  truly  be  said  that  they 
know  not  the  present  who  only  the  present  know. 
Even  Confucius,  the  Chinese  sage  of  the  sixth 
century  B.C.,  had  grasped  this  truth  when  he 
said  :  "As  we  use  a  glass  to  examine  the  forms 
of  things,  so  must  we  use  antiquity  in  order  to 
understand  the  present."  Just  as  to-day,  with 

36 


The  Content  of  Civics 

which  the  citizen  is  immediately  concerned,  is  an 
outgrowth  of  yesterday,  so  to-morrow  will  be  a 
development  of  to-day ;  and  the  one  cannot  be 
understood,  nor  the  other  prepared  for,  without 
the  historic  background.  Civics,  however,  requires 
no  history  in  the  dull  textbook  sense  ;  it  demands 
a  knowledge  of  the  gradual  conquest  by  man  of 
his  difficulties,  both  within  and  without  himself, 
and  an  insight  into  the  result  of  the  complicated 
interactions  of  his  own  activities.  Whether  we 
realise  it  or  not,  we  are  actually  co-operating 
with  the  past  in  our  daily  life  and  work,  and 
we  cannot  do  otherwise.  There  is  a  deep  truth 
in  Comte's  saying  that  "  the  living  are  more  and 
more  governed  by  the  dead." 

The  third  aspect  of  Civics  is  the  economic,  in 
the  sense  of  dealing  with  the  work  of  the  people. 
Occupation  influences  the  personality  and  outlook 
as  manual  labour  marks  the  hands.  Even  if 
education  and  surroundings  have  been  alike,  a 
different  occupation  would  produce  a  different 
character,  quite  apart  from  hereditary  influence. 
The  personality  of  a  doctor  differs  from  that  of 
a  bricklayer,  not  merely  on  account  of  a  different 
training ;  a  seamstress  differs  from  a  teacher, 
while  the  housewife  and  sailor  are  different  from 
all  the  others.  We  must  therefore  gain  knowledge 
of  the  industries  and  occupations  connected  with 

37 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

a  district  as  well  as  of  the  geographical  features 
and  historical  foundation.  To  adopt  the  famous 
formula  of  Professor  Geddes,  we  must  study  the 
Place,  Work  and  People,  and  the  interactions  of 
each  upon  the  others.  As  Mr.  F.  J.  Gould  has 
said  :  "  Our  prime  business  is  to  know  the  Place 
where  we  live,  to  develop  individual  and  municipal 
and  social  Work  in  ways  most  suited  to  the  natural 
resources  and  situation  of  the  Place  .  .  .  and 
both  to  try  and  understand  People  in  relation  to 
their  Place  (or  Environment)  and  to  render 
education,  art,  and  politics  a  fc  harmonious  and 
beautiful  expression  of  civic  and  national  con- 
ditions." 

Uninstructed  citizenship,  however  devoted,  pro- 
duces much  futile  and  impermanent  work.  In 
order  to  be  effective  a  citizen  must  not  only  be 
capable  of  undertaking  responsibilities — and  the 
war  has  proved  that  but  few  citizens  are  incapable 
— but  he  must  be  aware  of  the  conditions  of  his 
time  and  how  they  have  arisen  ;  and  he  must  be, 
in  addition,  animated  by  the  spirit  of  progress. 
In  other  words,  the  three  essential  qualities  of 
good  citizenship  are  common  sense,  knowledge, 
and  devotion.  A  right  knowledge  of  the  social 
significances  of  family,  city,  country,  empire- 
commonwealth  will  oust  the  confused  sentimentality 
or  angry  rashness  so  often  mingled  with  the 

38 


The  Content  of  Civics 

civic  ideals   of   well-intentioned   but  ill-informed 
citizens. 

In  pursuing  civic  knowledge  two  mistakes  must 
be  avoided :  the  one  is  that  of  the  metaphysician 
and  the  other  of  the  specialist.  By  metaphysics 
is  meant  the  consideration  of  words  and  ideas 
as  independent  of  facts  and  experience,  or  the 
building  of  theory  not  based  on  practice.  As  an 
instance  of  the  metaphysical  method  an  incident 
in  my  own  experience  may  be  mentioned.  When 
I  started  taking  Civics  classes  for  adults  I  showed 
my  syllabus  to  a  well-known  social  worker  in 
London.  Acknowledging  that  he  did  not  know 
much  about  the  subject  as  I  treated  it,  he  said 
that  if  he  were  giving  a  course  he  would  spend 
the  time  up  to  Christmas  in  discussing  the  nature 
of  Freedom.  From  September  to  Christmas  dis- 
cussing !  It  is  the  mistaken  method  of  the  meta- 
physician ;  and  the  nineteenth  and  previous  cen- 
turies have  attached  too  much  importance  to 
mere  discussion,  that  is,  to  mere  words  and  mere 
ideas.  If  Freedom  were  the  subject  of  a  course, 
the  way  to  approach  it  would  be,  not  to  discuss 
its  nature,  but  to  trace  the  efforts  mankind  has 
made  to  acquire  it,  to  gather  the  results  of  freedom 
in  action  and  thought,  to  note  the  changing  em- 
phasis placed  on  freedom  as  an  end.  Otherwise 
what  basis  of  knowledge  would  the  students  have 

39 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

on  which  to  found  their  opinions  ?  Unless  theories 
are  founded  on  facts  the  discussion  is  apt  to  remain 
in  the  clouds,  whereas  Civics  is  essentially  of  the 
earth  and  its  wonderful  products,  and  of  man 
and  his  marvellous  exploits.  Metaphysics  is  smiled 
at  as  an  intellectual  amusement  by  the  active 
citizen,  for  he  knows  that  every  true  idealist  must 
be  a  realist  as  well. 

Sectionalism  should  also  be  avoided,  and  a  part 
of  Civics  must  never  be  regarded  as  the  whole. 
No  one  can  actively  concern  himself  with  the 
whole  content  of  the  subject,  but  he  should,  while 
taking  interest  in  the  part,  remember  that  it  is 
but  a  part  of  something  which  eventually  em- 
braces the  whole  of  the  globe  and  runs  through 
all  the  centuries.  It  is  a  mistake  to  learn  the 
details  of  the  functions  of  local  committees  and 
not  to  notice  the  great  tendencies  of  the  country ; 
it  is  a  mistake  to  be  keen  on  baby  clinics  and 
to  forget  the  health  of  adolescence  and  adult- 
hood ;  it  is  a  mistake  to  know  all  about  sea-shells 
and  be  oblivious  of  the  vast  ocean  of  life  around. 
Let  it  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  sections  as 
such  should  not  be  studied  or  worked  in,  but 
they  should  always  be  relegated  to  their  proper 
position  with  regard  to  the  whole. 

Three  principles  must  be  followed  by  the  Civics 
student  who  wishes  to  grasp  the  subject  ade- 

40 


The  Content  of  Civics 

quately.  The  first  insists  on  the  necessity  of 
taking  a  wide  survey.  For  citizens  in  our  lands 
the  scope  of  Civics  extends  outwards  from  the 
family  to  the  Commonwealth  of  British  nations, 
and  nothing  which  affects  any  part  of  this  im- 
mense area  of  land,  thought,  and  action  is  alien 
to  the  subject.  Therefore  the  citizen  may  say 
with  Terence  :  Homo  sum ;  humanum  nihil  a  me 
alienum  puto  (I  am  a  man,  and  I  consider  that 
nothing  human  is  alien  to  me).  A  bird's-eye 
view  enables  valuations  of  better  proportions  to 
be  made,  it  shows  the  connections  between  the 
various  "  subjects "  of  the  study,  and  unites 
them  all  in  the  great  story  of  the  world.  Now- 
adays a  largeness  of  vision  is  needed  to  cope  with 
the  problems  confronting  our  times ;  and  com- 
plete Civics  essentially  gives  a  wide  vision  by  its 
method  of  synthetic  survey. 

Something  has  already  been  said  of  the  necessity 
of  having  a  historical  basis,  and  of  realising  that 
the  conditions  now  prevailing  are  the  result  of 
many  processes  having  their  roots  in  remote 
antiquity.  In  building  the  philosophy  of  citizen- 
ship, the  firm  foundation  of  historical  facts,  that 
is,  of  what  mankind  has  done,  must  be  laid,  other- 
wise the  structure  will  fall  before  the  first  blast 
of  critical  common  sense.  Not  only  critical 
faculty,  but  also  imaginative  insight  is  required 

41 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

to  afford  a  right  appreciation  of  the  long  vista 
of  the  past,  to  comprehend  the  significances  of 
the  present,  and  to  plan  the  ideals  of  the  future. 
Inspiration  as  well  as  material  can  be  gathered 
throughout  the  ages  ;  and,  just  as  the  great  world 
swings  round  the  sun  and  carries  all  with  it,  so 
the  present  moves  onward  carrying  all  the  past 
with  it.  That  is  why  we  can  speak  of  the  living 
past. 

But  the  citizen  must  not  stop  at  the  past ;  he 
must  connect  it  all  with  the  present  and  the 
future,  otherwise  he  becomes  a  mere  antiquary. 
Being  satisfied  with  what  is,  and  looking  askance 
at  pioneers,  is  the  opposite  mistake  to  that  of 
those  who  depreciate  our  ancestors.  The  citizen 
must  choose  the  middle  path,  and  with  his  feet 
set  in  the  road  of  Order  turn  his  face  towards 
Progress.  He  must  join  all  times  with  his  own, 
as  links  in  the  long  chain  of  achievement  beaten 
out  by  civilisation,  and  he  must  so  act  that  more 
links  may  be  added.  The  needs  of  to-day  are 
connected  with  the  results  of  yesterday  and  the 
hopes  of  to-morrow. 

Bearing  these  three  principles  in  mind — taking  a 
wide  survey,  having  a  historical  basis,  and  con- 
necting all  with  the  present  and  the  future — the 
citizen  may  with  profit  work  through  a  syllabus 

of  study  such  as  the  one  that  follows. 

42 


The  Content  of  Civics 

B.  A  SYLLABUS  OF  STUDY  FOR  ADULTS.' 

This  syllabus  is  meant  to  embrace  the  main 
content  of  Civics,  to  trace  the  growth  of  each 
social  element,  and  to  indicate  both  its  significance 
at  the  present  time  and  its  probable  future.  It 
is  a  guide  to  the  subject,  and  does  not  provide 
the  matter  of  it. 

Since  the  FAMILY  is  "  the  eternal  school  of 
social  life,"  a  beginning  must  be  made  with  this 
as  social  unit,  for  it  contains  the  germs  and  is  the 
nursery  of  many  institutions.  Long  before  the 
sense  of  city  or  country  develops  there  comes 
family  feeling,  which  governed  actions  even  before 
religion  or  the  State  existed  in  definite  form.  As 
was  well  said  in  The  Round  Table*:  "The  virtues 
of  the  home  become  the  excellencies  of  the  citizen 
as  naturally  as  the  bud  opens  into  the  full-blown 
flower/'  Its  importance  can  scarcely  be  over- 
estimated, and  its  historical  significance  should 
be  traced  from  the  earliest  times.  Of  the  stages 
through  which  society  passed  before  this  great 

1  This  forms  the  sketch  of  a  two  years'  course  (one  hour 
a  week  for  seven  months  of  the  year)  which  has  been  worked 
through  with  adults.  The  names  of  books  dealing  with 
each  section  will  be  found  at  the  end.  The  syllabus  is 
not  intended  for  children,  who  should  have  the  subject 
presented  differently. 

a  In  the  issue  of  June  1917,  article  on  "  The  Education 
of  the  Citizen." 

43 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

step  towards  human  civilisation  was  taken  we 
know  little.  It  must,  however,  be  noted  that  the 
step  was  probably  due  to  woman's  influence, 
which  has  been  much  greater  as  a  real  civilising 
force  than  many  feminists  realise.  After  the 
family  in  primitive  times,  early  patriarchal  families 
can  best  be  studied  from  the  typical  one  of  Rome, 
and  the  slaves,  forming  part  of  it,  must  be  con- 
sidered in  taking  a  civic  view  of  ancient  society, 
especially  when  relative  progress  is  being  esti- 
mated. In  the  mediaeval  family  the  main  differ- 
ences from  the  patriarchal  are  the  disappearance 
of  slavery  with  the  appearance  of  the  serf,  who 
is  head  of  a  family  of  his  own ;  the  emergence  of 
the  mother  as  the  central  figure,  and  of  the 
unmarried  woman  who  became  nun  or  saint. 
Next  comes  the  complete  change  wrought  by  the 
industrial  revolution  with  its  machinery,  factories, 
wage-earning,  unions,  and  political  action.  No 
longer  did  the  family  remain  a  unit ;  and  each 
member  must  now  receive  separate  consideration. 
The  problems  started  in  the  age  of  machinery 
still  remain :  such  questions  as  those  of  child 
labour,  married  women's  labour,  housing  con- 
ditions, slums,  a  family  wage,  unemployment, 
health,  and  training  are  a  few,  but  their  enumera- 
tion is  sufficient  to  show  that  the  welfare  of  the 
family  of  to-day  requires  the  aid  of  those  engaged 

44 


The  Content  of  Civics 

in  the  realms  of  economics,  eugenics,  education, 
and  ethics.  True  in  more  senses  than  she  perhaps 
intended  is  Mrs.  Bosanquet's  conception  of  the 
family  as  "  the  great  trysting  place  of  the  genera- 
tions, where  the  past  and  the  future  flash  into  the 
reality  of  the  present  .  .  .  the  great  discipline 
through  which  each  generation  learns  anew  the 
lesson  of  citizenship  that  no  man  can  live  to 
himself  alone." 

Both  with  regard  to  historical  sequence  and 
to  complexity,  the  VILLAGE  is  the  next  social 
unit.  It  marks  the  settlement  of  families  on  the 
land,  a  stage  which  brought  mankind  to  the 
threshold  of  civilisation,  for  wandering  tribes 
could  not  provide  a  foundation  from  which  to 
progress.  India  and  China,  being  lands  of  villages, 
supply  information  and  give  the  characteristics 
of  ancient  villages,  and  Greece  must  not  be  for- 
gotten. So  apt  are  we  to  regard  the  last-named 
country  in  connection  with  city-states  that  the 
fact  of  its  life  being  fundamentally  pastoral  and 
agricultural,  with  the  countryman  representing 
the  unchanging  element,  is  often  neglected.  The 
ancient  villages  of  all  countries  will  be  found  to 
exhibit  characteristics  not  dissimilar,  and  the 
citizen  should  discover  them.  He  should  also 
make  himself  acquainted  with  the  types  of  villages 
in  his  own  district,  and  find  the  reasons  for  their 

45 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

origin,  position,  and  present  conditions.  The  story 
of  the  parish  in  England  is  an  important  one, 
since,  as  Mrs.  J.  R.  Green  says,  "  all  the  multi- 
tudinous activities  and  accidents  of  their  common 
life  were  summed  up  for  the  people  in  the  parish 
church/'  and  in  time  parishes  became  civic  as  well 
as  religious  areas.  Significant  also  are  the  peasants' 
rebellions  due  to  enclosures  both  in  the  fourteenth 
and  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries.  It  has 
been  said  that  "  the  village  far  more  than  the 
town  is  characteristic  of  our  national  life,  and 
from  it  have  gone  forth  the  great  majority  of 
those  who  have  made  the  empire."  But  the 
citizen-student  will  perceive  that  village  life  needs 
revitalising,  and  that  the  process  has  already 
begun,  as  is  indicated  by  the  establishment  of  the 
Village  Clubs  Association  and  the  many  Women's 
Institutes. 

In  connection  with  the  study  of  villages  the 
student  will  find  interesting  a  history  of  his  own 
county  and  its  industries,  which  will  give  a  back- 
ground to  the  individual  villages.  The  king's 
highway  is  intimately  connected  with  village  life 
and  rural  development,  and  its  administration 
illustrates  the  growth  of  a  civic  idea  of  respon- 
sibility. The  construction  and  maintenance  of 
highways,  from  the  mere  tracks  originated  by 
animals  to  the  macadam  roads  of  to-day,  have 

46 


The  Content  of  Civics 

concerned,  in  turn,  individuals  such  as  lords  of 
manors,  parishes,  and  their  inhabitants,  and 
finally  the  State  as  a  whole.  The  history  illustrates 
a  tendency  of  the  day — that  of  many  matters  be- 
coming questions  of  national  as  well  as  of  local 
import. 

In  one  sense  the  CITY  is  the  centre  of  the 
subject  of  Civics.  Aristotle  calls  man  a  political 
being  (i.e.  a  citizen  of  the  TroAi?  or  city),  and 
we  have  only  to  repeat  the  names  Jerusalem, 
Athens,  Rome,  Paris,  London,  to  realise  how  the 
city  typifies  civilisation.  Professor  Geddes  is 
even  inclined  to  narrow  the  content  of  Civics  to 
the  science  of  cities.  He  says  : 

Viewed  as  a  science,  Civics  is  that  branch  of  Sociology 
which  deals  with  Cities — their  origin  and  distribution ; 
their  development  and  structure ;  their  functioning, 
internal  and  external,  material  and  psychological ;  their 
evolution,  individual  and  associated.  Viewed  again  from 
the  practical  side,  that  of  applied  science,  Civics  must 
develop  through  experimental  endeavour  into  the  more 
effective  art  of  enhancing  the  life  of  the  City  and  of 
advancing  its  evolution. 

In  the  chapter  on  Civilisation  it  was  seen  how 
the  establishment  of  cities  gave  opportunities  for 
the  expansion  of  human  faculty,  and  the  study 
of  towns  and  cities  from  all  the  aspects  mentioned 
by  Professor  Geddes  forms  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant sections  of  this  syllabus.  A  town  or  city  is 

47 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

an  organism,  and  therefore  it  grows ;  it  is  "a 
drama  in  time  "  as  well  as  "  a  place  in  space  "  ; 
it  can  boast  of  a  past  as  well  as  hope  for  a  future. 
No  better  introduction  to  civic  feeling  could  be 
given  than  by  the  study  of  the  significance  and 
salient  features  of  ancient  cities.  Gratitude  to 
our  ancestors  will  evoke  the  sense  of  responsibility 
to  our  contemporaries  and  descendants,  and  thus 
something  of  the  old  intense  civic  passion  felt  by 
an  Athenian  or  Roman  may  be  aroused.  So 
strong  was  this  enthusiasm  that  the  Corinthians 
said:  "  An  Athenian  spends  himself  in  the  service 
of  his  city  as  if  his  body  were  not  his  own,  and 
counts  his  mind  then  most  his  own  when  it  is 
employed  upon  her  business."  To  a  Greek  or  an 
early  Roman  his  city  was  his  country  and  his 
church,  so  that  patriotism  and  religion  were 
blended  into  one. 

Ruskin  said  that  a  nation  expresses  itself  by  its 
art  as  well  as  by  its  history  (though  in  a  broader 
sense  its  history  includes  its  art),  and  the  modern 
town  or  city  might  well  extend  its  operations  in 
the  way  of  pageants  to  include  something  that 
would  correspond  to  the  great  Panathenaic  pro- 
cession, and  some  representation  that  would 
depict  past  history,  present  activities  in  all  spheres, 
and  aspirations  for  the  future.  This  could  be 
expressed  artistically,  symbolically,  or  in  actuality, 

4$ 


The  Content  of  Civics 

and  it  would  reveal  the  beauty  and  ceremonial 
that  should  accompany  a  right  conception  of 
complete  citizenship.  A  vast  field  of  usefulness, 
ingenuity,  and  inspiration  lies  open  in  this  direc- 
tion for  citizen  brains  and  hands  and  hearts — a 
field  wherein  the  young  could  be  trained  to  help. 

In  studying  the  towns  of  the  Middle  Ages,  their 
growth,  their  struggles  for  independence,  their 
charters  and  trade  must  all  be  noticed.  And  the 
development  of  mediaeval  gilds  is  of  high  impor- 
tance, for  besides  fulfilling  the  many  duties  for 
which  they  were  organised,  they  evoked  a  spirit 
of  association  and  sense  of  public  right  and  duty 
that  were  essentially  civic. 

Among  the  changes  of  modern  times  the  chief 
points  to  be  noticed  are  the  over-rapid  and  hap- 
hazard growth  of  industrial  towns,  and  the  con- 
sequent amorphous  aggregate  of  buildings  that  are 
in  no  sense  corporate  centres  possessing  a  civic 
pride.  For  the  last  two  centuries,  however,  the 
history  of  English  towns  and  cities,  with  their 
local  authorities,  labour  troubles,  and  parliamen- 
tary representation,  merges  into  that  of  the  nation 
as  a  whole,  and,  as  Mr.  Frederic  Harrison  has 
pointed  out,  our  civilisation  is  now  national  rather 
than  municipal,  and  in  a  sense  our  civic  institu- 
tions, if  not  our  civic  enthusiasm,  surpass  anything 
of  ancient  or  modern  times. 

49  D 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

To  leave  the  study  of  cities  at  this  stage  would 
give  a  sense  of  despair,  but  there  are  the  cities  of 
the  future  to  be  considered.  Before  town  planning, 
however,  should  come  REGIONAL  SURVEY, 
which,  in  the  words  of  Professor  Fleure,  means 
"  a  direct  and  concrete  study  of  our  surroundings 
and  our  relations  to  them."  Regional  survey  is 
not  merely  geographical ;  it  is  also  historical ;  it 
notes  the  achievements  of  average  groups  of 
humanity,  and  thereby  interprets  their  soul 
through  its  self-expression,  which  results  in  the 
formation  of  customs  and  institutions  and  the 
production  of  buildings  and  shipping,  of  all  forms 
of  art  and  scientific  knowledge.  Such  a  study 
of  a  centre  of  civilisation,  be  it  village,  town,  or 
city,  considered  in  relation  to  its  environment 
and  from  as  many  outlooks  as  possible,  should 
be  undertaken  by  the  student  in  his  own  district 
and  in  conjunction  with  other  citizens.1  The 
results  of  a  survey  can  be  collected  and  arranged 
in  a  museum  or  exhibition,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  local  museums  do  not  devote  more  space 
to  picture  their  own  surroundings  and  the  past 
and  present  activities  of  their  own  district.  One 
of  the  most  interesting  exhibitions  is  that  of  the 
Outlook  Tower,  Edinburgh,  where  the  city  is  not 

1  Simple  regional  survey  is  the  best  starting-point  in 
Civics  teaching  for  the  young. 


The  Content  of  Civics 

only  depicted  and  interpreted,  but  also  connected 
with  the  rest  of  Scotland  and  the  world. 

The  importance  and  fascination  to  the  citizen 
of  Town  Study  and  Town  Planning  can  be  gathered 
from  Professor  Geddes'  words  about  the  Ghent 
International  Exhibition  of  1913,  when  he  indi- 
cates the  underlying  meaning  and  purpose  of  such 
an  exhibition  : 

For  in  this  exhibition  there  is  a  beginning,  perhaps  the 
first  clear  and  definite  beginning,  of  the  comparative  study 
of  cities  in  their  life ;  each  shown  as  arising  like  a  living 
being,  in  constant  relation  to  its  environment  and  with 
the  characteristic  advantages  of  this,  with  its  limitations 
too.  Like  the  living  being  it  is,  a  city  also  reacts  upon 
its  environment,  and  in  ever- widening  circles.  Thus  it 
may  transcend  its  old  limitations,  here  economically  and 
there  educationally ;  or  it  may  be  first  in  thought  and 
next  in  deed.  Hence  its  character  and  aspect  in  each 
age  ;  hence  its  varied  eminence  and  influence  accordingly  ; 
until  once  more  it  changes,  with  circumstances  or  with 
times,  outwardly,  inwardly,  or  both.  At  one  time  it 
may  be  with  conspicuous  advance,  at  another  rather  with 
elements  of  arrest  and  decay,  of  poverty  and  disease,  of 
vice  and  crime  ;  and  all  these  modified  by  war  and  peace, 
and  each  and  all  with  correspondingly  varied  consequences 
and  reaction,  now  of  deterioration,  or  again  of  renewal. 
In  such  historic  survey  there  is  no  neglect  of  "  Town  Plan- 
ning," though  the  alderman,  the  borough  engineer,  the 
anxious  reformer  too,  may  sometimes  fear  this  on  his  first 
visit.  Yet  when  he  gives  a  second  look  and  gets  as  far 
as  the  Gallery  of  Garden  Suburbs,  or  that  of  Central 
Improvements,  he  feels  that  these  are  not  ill-chosen, 
but  typical  ones,  naturally  arranged.  ...  So  he  comes 
to  recognise,  often  generously,  how  these  new  Garden 
Suburbs,  or  the  no  less  needed  Central  Improvements  ,  .  . 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

are  really  related ;  and  how  again  they  gain  complete- 
ness and  value  from  each  other,  and  from  the  City's  past. 
.  .  .  Our  illustrations  of  many  cities  are  thus  not  only 
for  historic  interest  and  interpretation,  but  for  practical 
guidance.  Whatever  the  student  of  cities  can  observe 
and  interpret,  foresee  and  suggest,  the  active  citizen  will 
not  be  long  to  devise  and  to  apply. 

It  is  inevitable  that  the  next  generation  will 
be  engaged  in  city  design  and  building  to  a  far 
greater  extent  than  any  other,  and  it  therefore 
behoves  the  present  generation  of  citizens  to 
prepare  the  way  by  comprehensive  surveys.  From 
the  earliest  times  philosophers  and  prophets  and 
poets  have  dreamed  of  an  ideal  city,  and  it  re- 
mains for  the  twentieth  century  to  build  that 
city,  which,  as  has  been  well  said,  "  like  the  cathe- 
dral of  the  past  will  be  the  handiwork  of  many 
artists  inspired  by  one  faith."  However,  the 
citizen  must  always  remember  that  the  Utopia 
must  be  constructed  on  old  foundations,  and  what 
is  must  be  the  basis  of  what  is  to  be.  Therefore 
notice  must  be  taken  of  certain  groups  of  villages, 
towns,  and  cities  which  have  grown  in  England, 
and  which  will  probably  become  civic  centres  in 
the  future.  To  such  groups,  including  Greater 
London  and  the  districts  surrounding  coal-fields, 
Professor  Geddes  gives  the  name  of  Conurbations, 
and  considers  that  eventually  these  may  come 
to  own  a  common  water  and  electricity  supply, 

52 


The  Content  of  Civics 

have  a  common  local  government,  and  develop  a 
common  civic  spirit. 

The  citizen-student  now  passes  on  to  LOCAL 
GOVERNMENT,  which,  like  all  the  rest,  must 
be  taken  historically,  for  the  roots  of  the  present 
lie  deep  in  the  past ;  especially  is  this  true  of 
England,  and  many  of  its  national  institutions 
have  arisen  from  local  ones.  That  local  govern- 
ment exerted  great  influence  in  moulding  the 
civic  sense  was  recognised  by  Tocqueville  in  his 
remark  that — 

Local  assemblies  of  citizens  constitute  the  strength  of 
free  nations.  Town  meetings  are  to  liberty  what  primary 
schools  are  to  science  ;  they  bring  it  within  the  people's 
reach  ;  they  teach  men  how  to  use  and  how  to  enjoy  it. 
A  nation  may  establish  a  system  of  free  government, 
but  without  the  spirit  of  municipal  institutions  it  cannot 
have  the  spirit  of  liberty. 

It  is  of  importance  to  remember  this  in  view  of 
the  increasing  tendency  to  the  devolution  of 
powers  to  local  authorities  on  account  of  the 
complexity  and  number  of  national  and  municipal 
affairs.  In  considering  the  case  of  self-govern- 
ment in  India  and  Egypt,  the  significance  of  local 
government,  especially  in  village  areas,  should 
also  be  noted. 

Since  the  days  of  the  Saxons  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  citizenship  have  been  learned 

53 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

by  Englishmen,  as  Sir  T.  Erskine  May  says,  "  at 
their  own  gates  "  ;  and  he  is  inclined  to  believe 
that  her  free  local  institutions  have  enabled  Eng- 
land to  maintain  "  alone  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth  .  .  .  for  centuries  a  constitutional  policy.'1 
If  we  may  ascribe  the  ideal  of  beauty  to  the 
Greeks,  of  order  and  government  to  the  Romans, 
and  of  clarity  of  thought  to  the  French,  we  may 
look  upon  England  as  expressing  political  liberty ; 
and  her  training  school  has  been  the  olden  village 
moots,  hundred  moots,  and  shire  moots,  with  the 
institutions  developing  therefrom.  Even  the 
Norman  Conquest  failed  to  extinguish  the  zeal 
for  local  affairs,  and  some  of  the  institutions  they 
found  here  were  adopted  by  the  conquerors. 
Like  the  native  language,  these  institutions  formed 
the  groundwork  of  what  is  in  use  nowadays. 

Notice  should  be  taken  of  the  early  English 
moots,  the  Norman  manorial  courts,  the  parish 
meetings,  Tudor  administrations,  and  the  history 
of  the  Justice  of  the  Peace.  The  work  done  by 
this  personage  influenced  not  only  his  district  but 
also  himself,  as  can  be  seen  by  comparing  the 
turbulent  nobles  of  the  fifteenth  century  with 
the  order-loving  squires  of  the  seventeenth.  The 
contrast  is  striking,  and  is  largely  explained  by 
the  training  and  discipline  of  the  J.P.'s  in  the  six- 
teenth century.  Some  knowledge  of  the  charters 

54 


The  Content  of  Civics 

granting  self-government  to  the  towns  should 
be  gained,  and  also  a  history  of  corporations, 
which  were  finally  made  into  a  uniform  type  by 
the  Act  of  1835.  It  will  be  seen  that  later  Acts 
dealing  with  local  authorities  exhibit  the  general 
tendency,  already  mentioned,  of  devolution  in 
all  spheres  of  government — a  tendency  that 
largely  extends  the  scope  of  citizens  in  their  own 
districts.  In  considering  the  powers  and  limita- 
tions of  different  councils  and  committees  the 
student  should  always  refer  to  his  own  local 
representatives,  and  .notice  in  what  way  the  laws 
work  in  actual  practice. 

Of  special  interest  is  the  history  and  adminis- 
tration of  London,  continuous  as  its  life  has  been 
from  Roman  times  to  the  twentieth  century, 
and  forming  a  link,  as  it  does,  between  the  two 
great  nations  that  have  achieved  success  as  empire- 
builders.  A  brief  survey  should  also  be  taken 
of  the  enterprise  of  various  municipalities,  and 
the  conclusion  will  be  arrived  at  that  there  is 
more  civic  art  and  sense  of  citizenship  in  English 
town  councils  than  is  usually  ascribed  to  them. 
Municipal  trading  is  a  question  of  importance, 
and  it  is  significant  that  in  some  directions  it  is 
increasing.  And  the  growth  of  various  Citizen 
Associations  is  a  point  of  vital  interest  in  the 
sphere  of  local  government. 

55 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

The  STATE  is  the  next  institution  to  be  studied, 
an  institution  we  have  ourselves  developed  as  a 
form  of  social  order.  It  is  an  essentially  human 
achievement,  and  must  not  be  confused  either 
with  race,  or  nation,  or  society.  The  function  of 
a  State  is  mainly  government,  which  is  coming 
to  include  responsibility  for  the  education,  work, 
and  welfare  of  all.  That  the  State  should  be 
more  than  government  was  insisted  on  by  Edmund 
Burke  : 

The  State  ought  not  to  be  considered  nothing  better 
than  a  partnership  agreement  in  a  trade.  ...  It  is  to  be 
looked  upon  with  other  reverence.  ...  It  is  a  partnership 
in  all  science  ;  it  is  a  partnership  in  all  art ;  a  partnership 
in  every  virtue  and  in  all  perfection.  As  the  ends  of  such 
a  partnership  cannot  be  obtained  in  many  generations,  it 
becomes  a  partnership  not  only  between  those  who  are 
living,  but  between  those  who  are  dead  and  those  who  are 
to  be  born. 

From  the  study  of  the  development  of  the 
ancient  city-states,  their  characteristics  and 
kinds  of  government,  the  student  will  pass  on  to 
the  rise  of  the  mediaeval  European  nations  and 
the  changes  wrought  by  the  Catholic-Feudal  age. 
Thus  he  will  come  to  the  threshold  of  modern 
history,  and  he  can  concentrate  on  his  own  nation. 
Very  many  national  aspects  of  civic  importance 
are  before  him,  but  each  should  be  regarded  as  a 
growth  which  continues.  The  various  expressions 

56 


The  Content  of  Civics 

of  a  sense  of  citizenship,  the  revolts  and  protests 
with  regard  to  the  liberty  of  the  Press  (which 
produced  a  masterpiece  of  literature  in  Milton's 
Areopagitica),  and  the  extensions  of  the  suffrage  ; 
the  growth  of  a  sense  of  law ;  the  expansion  of 
Parliamentary  power,  and  the  settling  of  its 
procedure,  are  all  sections  of  the  wide  subject  of 
the  State.  The  principles  and  aims  of  the  different 
political  parties  must  be  ascertained  with  as  little 
prejudice  as  possible ;  and  should  be  obtained 
from  upholders  of  the  several  parties.  In  the 
making  of  the  nation  the  deeds  of  the  army,  navy, 
and  civil  service  take  their  place,  and  something 
of  their  history  should  be  known.  Art  in  all  its 
branches  and  scientific  achievements  express  the 
national  spirit  and  should  not  be  omitted  in  the 
study.  Some  knowledge  of  the  attempts  at 
philanthropy  made  by  citizens  and  of  the  thought 
expressed  in  philosophy  or  religion  can  be  included 
in  Civics,  for  citizenship  deals  with  more  than 
politics. 

The  two  sections  of  prime  importance  to  the 
citizen  are  his  nation's  Industry  and  his  nation's 
Education ;  the  one  because  on  labour,  industrial 
and  agricultural,  our  civilisation  rests,  and  there- 
fore a  right  conception  should  be  attained  of  its 
history  and  present  tendencies,  and  a  right  value 
apportioned  to  it ;  the  other  because  on  the 

57 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

methods  and  aims  of  education  depend  the  char- 
acter and  worth  of  the  next  generation,  and  it  is 
time  that  the  average  citizen  took  a  more  living 
interest  in  this  important  subject,  for  it  is  in 
danger  of  being  captured  and  controlled  by 
academic  students  who,  if  they  are  merely 
academic,  are  themselves  but  imperfectly  edu- 
cated. 

In  ancient  times  INDUSTRY  was  carried  on 
by  slaves,  and  even  so  great  a  thinker  as  Aristotle 
could  not  conceive  of  a  society  without  slavery. 
What  Aristotle  could  not  conceive  has  come  to 
pass,  and  therefore  those  not  so  great  as  Aristotle 
may  reasonably  hope  that  their  noblest  social 
ideals,  and  even  more,  will  eventually  be  realised 
in  the  grand  march  of  Humanity.  From  the 
conditions  of  slavery  in  Greece  and  Rome  the 
student  passes  to  the  emergence  of  serfdom  in 
the  Middle  Ages.  Some  knowledge  of  the  artisan 
in  the  towns  will  have  been  gleaned  when  studying 
the  gild  system,  wherein  the  spirit  of  association 
was  developed.  The  rise  of  the  money  system  in 
the  Middle  Ages  will  show  that  our  modern  wages 
problems  are  not  of  great  antiquity.  During 
these  times  the  work  of  the  Benedictine  monks 
and  nuns,  who  possessed  a  sense  of  the  dignity  of 
labour,  is  of  greater  importance  than  text-books 
usually  show,  and  the  maxim  of  St.  Benedict 

58 


The  Content  of  Civics 

might  well  be  adopted  by  the  citizen  of  to-day  : 
Laziness  is  the  enemy  of  the  soul.  Merchant  Ven- 
turers must  not  be  overlooked  in  the  sphere  of 
industry — the  men  who  commenced  our  coloniza- 
tion, developed  our  trade,  and  increased  our  sea 
power  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  next  two 
centuries  the  expansion  of  finance,  of  machinery 
and  of  industrial  operations,  which  all  helped  to 
bring  about  the  Industrial  Revolution,  introduce 
the  citizen  to  the  present-day  difficulties  and 
aims  of  labour.  The  struggle  of  the  working 
classes  for  improved  conditions,  and  the  legislation 
affecting  them,  brought  new  types  of  citizenship 
into  the  field  of  history,  such  as  that  expressed 
by  Robert  Owen  and  Francis  Place,  whose  bio- 
graphies will  lead  the  student  to  the  two  influential 
currents  of  working-class  effort  in  the  nineteenth 
century — the  Co-operative  Movement  and  Trade 
Unionism.  The  twentieth  century  sees  such 
developments  as  Whitley  Councils,  the  foundation 
of  gigantic  federations  of  workers,  Socialism  and 
National  Guildism.  Before  determining  his  atti- 
tude towards  any  of  these  aspects  the  citizen 
should  discover  the  aims  of  each  section  ;  and  he 
cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  by  the  fact  that  not 
only  has  the  attitude  towards  labour  changed 
during  the  last  century,  but  the  attitude  of  labour 
itself  has  also  changed.  A  type  of  citizenhood 

59 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

willing  to  serve  the  community  but  also  conscious 
of  its  worth  is  arising. 

Life  depends  on  labour,  and  the  future  depends 
on  EDUCATION,  which  in  a  sense  is  a  part  of 
politics,  as  Aristotle  recognised  in  saying  :  "No 
one  can  doubt  that  the  magistrate  ought  greatly 
to  interest  himself  in  the  care  of  youth,  for  where 
it  is  neglected  it  is  harmful  to  the  city."  In 
ancient  Greece  it  must  be  noticed  that  the  aim  of 
education  was  not  the  commercial  idea  of  "  getting 
on,"  but  that  of  producing  citizens  of  thought 
and  leisure  to  serve  the  State  by  governing  and 
fighting.  In  Rome  also  the  education  resulted  in 
an  efficient  patriotism.  But  both  these  States 
were  deficient  in  that  work  was  relegated  to  the 
slaves,  who  were  excluded  from  education,  and  in 
that  the  claim  of  girls  to  education  was  not  acknow- 
ledged. The  great  increase  of  the  spread  of 
knowledge,  and  the  confluence  of  Greek  culture 
with  Catholic  learning  known  as  the  Renaissance, 
stand  typified  in  the  person  of  the  famous  fifteenth- 
century  schoolmaster,  Vittorino  da  Feltre,  whose 
educational  aim  was  "  to  combine  the  spirit  of 
the  Christian  life  with  the  educational  apparatus 
of  classical  literature,  whilst  uniting  with  both 
something  of  the  Greek  passion  for  bodily  culture 
and  for  dignity  of  the  outer  life." 

The  growth  of  schools  in  England  and  the 
60 


The  Content  of  Civics 

value  apportioned  to  education  in  this  country 
can  be  gathered  by  the  opinion  expressed  by 
Edward  VI's  Government  that  "  the  liberal  educa- 
tion of  youth  is  the  foundation  of  our  common- 
wealth." English  developments  in  education  show 
many  writers  who  have  treated  of  different  aspects  : 
Milton,  whose  definition  still  holds,  "  I  call  a 
complete  and  generous  education  that  which  fits 
a  man  to  perform  justly,  skilfully,  and  magnani- 
mously all  the  offices,  both  public  and  private, 
of  peace  and  war  "  ;  John  Locke,  who  urged  that 
children's  reasoning  should  be  developed,  and 
thought  that  instruction  should  be  given  in  the 
natural  rights  of  man  and  the  foundations  of 
society,  and  the  duties  resulting  therefrom — in 
our  phraseology  this  would  mean  the  teaching  of 
Civics  ;  Joseph  Lancaster  and  George  Birkbeck, 
Thomas  Arnold  and  his  son  Matthew,  John  Ruskin, 
all  famous  in  connection  with  education  in  the 
eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries.  Elementary 
schools,  commencing  with  the  Charity  Schools  in 
Queen  Anne's  reign,  the  disgrace  of  child  labour, 
and  the  latest  Education  Act  all  need  study,  but 
the  chief  of  all  present-day  problems  in  education 
is  the  great  question  of  Aim.  To  what  end  are  all 
the  schools  and  Acts  and  teaching  ?  The  citizen- 
hood  of  England  as  a  whole  has  never  yet  answered 

that  question,  nor  formulated  a  general  aim  to 

61 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

which  all  subjects  and  time-tables,  methods  and 
discipline,  teachers  and  taught,  should  be  sub- 
ordinated. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  BRITISH  EMPIRE 
was  founded  in  a  fit  of  absence  of  mind,  but,  how- 
ever haphazardly  the  mighty  commonwealth  com- 
menced, it  is  a  present  fact,  with  responsibilities 
and  privileges,  of  which  the  citizen  should  be 
cognisant.  And  not  only  should  he  be  cognisant 
of  the  history  of  each  part  of  the  Commonwealth 
since  the  appearance  of  the  British  on  the  scene, 
but  he  should  know  something  of  what  went 
before,  especially  in  the  case  of  such  an  olden 
civilisation  as  that  of  India.  Some  of  the  methods 
of  colonisation  adopted  by  Greece  and  Rome 
should  be  noted,  and  it  is  of  interest  to  trace 
the  points  of  likeness,  amid  many  differences, 
between  the  two  greatest  empires  of  the  world, 
Both  Romans  and  British  possessed  the  power  of 
adaptation  and  compromise  in  dealing  with  others, 
and  therefore  they  both  were  able  to  agree  with 
and  govern  the  others.  Both  empires  comprised 
all  grades  and  types  of  peoples  and  races.  For 
this  reason  the  greater  and  later  empire  has  an 
enormous  task  before  it ;  the  position  of  England 
and  the  past  history  of  the  country,  however, 
make  its  citizens  specially  fitted  to  accomplish 
the  task. 

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The  Content  of  Civics 

After  a  general  view  of  European  commerce  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  of  the  opening  up  of  the  high 
seas,  of  European  voyages  and  discoveries  in  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  of  the  reasons 
for  English  colonisation  and  the  kinds  of  colonies 
founded,  the  best  plan  is  to  concentrate  on  English 
enterprises,  taking  each  part  of  the  Commonwealth 
in  turn,  not  in  too  much  detail,  but  so  as  to  form 
a  conception  of  its  growth,  its  standing,  and  its 
salient  features.  So  will  the  citizen  gather  pic- 
tures of  varied  interest — of  the  courage  of  the 
early  explorers  in  Australia,  of  the  romance  of 
the  West  Indies,  the  amalgamation  in  Canada, 
the  origins  of  the  United  States,  the  magnificent 
civilisation  and  literature  of  olden  India,  etc. 
As  always,  the  study  must  be  brought  up  to  the 
present,  and  such  questions  as  the  Imperial  Con- 
ferences held  of  late  years,  the  closer  bonds  between 
the  different  parts  of  the  Commonwealth  caused 
by  the  war,  the  spreading  doctrine  of  self-govern- 
ment or  "  Home  Rule  all  Round," l  an  Imperial 
Parliament,  the  economic  resources  of  the  empire, 
the  treatment  of  native  races,  migration  within, 
and  citizenship  of  the  Commonwealth  are  deeply 
worthy  of  much  consideration.  The  word  "  Com- 
monwealth "  has  been  used  throughout  in  the 
sense  of  "a  community,  designed  to  meet  the 

1  A  phrase  originated  by  Mr.  F.  J.  Gould  in  1889. 

63 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

common  needs  of  men,  founded  on  the  principle 
of  the  service  of  each  for  all.  ...  The  ideal  towards 
which  all  political  and  social  endeavour  moves 
forward  is  a  society  of  free  men  and  free  women, 
each  at  once  ruling  and  being  ruled,  each  con- 
sciously giving  his  service  for  the  benefit  of  all."  * 
This  ideal  can  only  be  realised  when  the  citizens 
of  the  Commonwealth  have  gained  a  knowledge  of 
their  inheritance  somewhat  on  the  lines  indicated 
in  this  chapter.  Such  a  knowledge  will  form  the 
background  of  the  citizen's  opinions  and  hopes, 
just  as  the  facts  of  which  the  knowledge  treats 
form  the  necessary  basis  of  his  activities.  Having 
acquired  the  background,  the  citizen  can  study 
the  present  with  more  assurance,  and  should  turn 
his  attention  to  modern  tendencies  and  RECON- 
STRUCTION, with  which  the  last  chapter  will 
deal. 

*  From  an  article  on  "  Three  Doctrines  in  Conflict,"  in 
The  Round  Table  for  March  1919. 


64 


FFFAMILY.FFF. 


U- 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE   FUNDAMENTALS    OF    CITIZENSHIP 

No  citizen  can  escape  the  influences  by  which 
all  mankind  is  affected,  and  three  main  ones 
operate :  heredity,  environment,  occupation. 
Every  child  is  equipped  with  certain  qualities 
derived  from  its  parents  or  remoter  ancestors ; 
these  qualities  may  or  may  not  be  fully  developed 
during  the  child's  life,  but  they  will  to  some  extent 
colour  that  existence.  By  heredity  is  here  meant, 
however,  more  than  parental  inheritance,  for  we 
live  in  a  world  loaded  with  legacies,  and  the 
phrase  "  heir  of  all  the  ages  "  is  true  of  heredity 
in  its  social  sense.  The  legacies  of  custom  and 
moral  standards  are  inherited  by  each  new  life, 
whatever  its  individual  qualities ;  atmosphere  of 
thought  and  even  range  of  feeling  are  formed 
during  the  ages,  through  the  legacies  bequeathed 
to  us  by  scientists,  poets,  artists,  and  philosophers  ; 
the  very  aspect  of  the  earth  is  changed  for  the 
new  citizen  through  the  work  of  hands  living 
before  him,  by  the  building  of  cities,  of  mighty 

66 


The  Fundamentals  of  Citizenship 

temples  and  cathedrals,  of  great  monuments, 
bridges,  towers,  and  factories.  A  citizen  born 
after  the  Parthenon  was  built  began  his  career 
with  a  far  different  inheritance  from  one  born 
a  century  before,  just  as  one  beginning  life  on 
earth  after  the  establishment  of  railway  trains 
would  differ  from  one  living  in  the  eighteenth 
century.  These  examples  would  serve  to  illus- 
trate the  influence  of  environment  also,  but  that 
very  environment  is  heritage  as  well.  If  each 
generation  was  forced  to  begin  at  the  beginning 
of  knowledge  and  inherited  no  past  achievements, 
progress  would  be  impossible ;  and  that  we  are 
not  such  savages  as  hunted  and  lived  in  this 
island  two  thousand  years  ago  is  due  to  the 
legacies  of  all  who  have  lived  and  died  and  left 
something  behind  as  a  result  of  their  lives.  This 
is  their  life  everlasting  upon  earth,  and  there  is 
much  appropriateness  enshrined  in  the  homely 
words  :  "  For  what  we  have  received,  may  we 
be  truly  thankful/' 

Environment  includes  all  outer  influences,  geo- 
graphical, cultural,  and  religious.  The  subject 
now  coming  to  be  known  as  Human  Geography 
describes  the  effect  of  the  earth  on  her  children 
and  the  results  of  natural  environment  on  the 
characteristics  of  races.  This  environment  has 
been  modified  by  man  during  his  sojourn  on  the 

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The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

earth  in  such  ways  as  irrigation,  draining  of 
swamps,  cutting  canals,  excavating  tunnels,  clear- 
ing forests,  and  making  roads ;  cultural  environ- 
ment embraces  not  only  educational  conditions 
but  also  all  the  legacies  of  the  scientist,  artist, 
and  philosopher ;  in  this  case  the  environment 
becomes  richer  with  every  generation,  and  what  is 
presented  to  the  young  citizen  becomes  ever  more 
full  of  inspiration  for  him,  so  that  he  grows  up 
surrounded  by  more  possibilities  than  the  genera- 
tions preceding  him.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  present 
generation  to  ensure  that  the  coming  one  should 
receive  all  the  advantages  that  environmental 
conditions  can  supply ;  and  no  forms  of  citizen 
service  are  greater  than  those  of  expanding  educa- 
tional ideas  and  methods,  and  of  helping  to  provide 
such  surroundings  as  will  eventually  eliminate 
any  poverty-stricken  class. 

The  third  influence,  occupation,  marks  person- 
ality by  the  constant  pressure  of  the  multitu- 
dinous effects  of  each  occupation,  and  by  the 
atmosphere  generated  around  the  incidents  con- 
nected with  it.  A  citizen's  point  of  view  and 
field  of  thought  are  usually  determined  by  his 
occupation,  which  introduces  him  to  special  issues 
of  the  problems  of  the  day.  Therefore  he  must 
guard  against  the  danger  of  over-absorption  in 
his  occupation,  for  this  would  result  in  giving 

68 


The  Fundamentals  of  Citizenship 

him  a  false  conception  of  the  relative  value  of 
his  work.  Mere  specialism  engenders  narrowness, 
unless  the  specialist  possesses  that  essential  charac- 
teristic of  good  citizenship — interest  in  the  welfare 
of  other  workers. 

The  question  of  welfare  brings  us  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  bases  on  which  life  and  all  its 
manifestations  rest,  and  which  were  touched 
upon  in  the  chapter  on  Civilisation.  In  this 
sphere  of  being  the  basis  is  a  material  one,  and 
consists  of  food,  clothing,  and  shelter  primarily. 
Without  these  we  could  not  exist,  a  truth  con- 
stantly overlooked  by  those  who  have  all  necessities 
provided  for  them.  But  these  prime  needs  must 
be  obtained  before  others  can  be  satisfied,  and 
if  any  particular  class  is  compelled  to  exert  all 
its  energies  in  providing  the  material  basis  of  its 
life,  and  even  then  only  obtains  an  inadequate 
provision,  how  can  it  be  expected  to  seek  other, 
higher  satisfactions  ?  Recognition  and  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  material  basis  of  life  will  result 
in  a  different  attitude  towards  those  who  provide 
that  basis,  and  without  whose  work  our  life  could 
not  continue.  Food,  clothing,  and  shelter  must 
be  obtained  before  other  needs  can  be  satisfied. 
For  there  are  other  needs,  both  material  and 
spiritual,  and  to  say  that  the  basis  is  material 
does  not  imply  that  all  else  is  material.  As 

69 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

Comte  said,  "  The  nobler  things  rest  on  the  less 
noble/'  and  common  sense  shows  that  the  less 
noble  must  be  supplied  before  energies  can  be 
spent  in  seeking  the  nobler  things.  The  true 
idealist  is  a  realist  as  well,  and  builds  his 
ideals  on  the  foundation  of  fact.  No  ideal  can 
be  fulfilled,  no  religion  practised,  no  philosophy 
founded  without  material  means.  Music,  exploring 
the  vast  realms  of  feeling  ;  painting,  which  catches 
and  fixes  beauty ;  the  frozen  loveliness  of  sculp- 
ture ;  the  calm  magnificence  of  Greek  temples ; 
Gothic  architecture  aspiring  to  the  skies  ;  literature, 
the  soul's  self-expression ;  the  guidance  of  the 
great  teachers ;  the  statesman's  plans ;  the 
prophet's  vision  ;  all  these  depend  on  the  husband- 
man's toil,  the  artisan's  handicraft,  the  housewife's 
service.  None  of  the  great  achievements  of  the 
human  spirit  could  have  been  accomplished  with- 
out human  bodies  that  were  fed  and  clothed  and 
sheltered  ;  and  the  dependence  of  the  spiritual  on 
the  material  should  be  appreciated. 

It  is  the  citizen's  concern,  therefore,  to  ensure 
that  an  adequate  material  basis  should  be  ob- 
tainable by  all  without  undue  anxiety  or  in- 
tolerable toil ;  unless  there  be  such  a  foundation 
the  superstructure  cannot  be  firm,  or  permanent, 
or  even  real.  No  nation  can  produce  its  full 
complement  of  worthy  citizens  until  all  are  assured 

70 


The  Fundamentals  of  Citizenship 

of  the  bases  of  life,  for  until  then  all  energies 
and  thought  are,  through  dire  necessity,  directed 
towards  securing  those  bases,  and  cannot  be 
expended  in  other  duties  of  citizenship.  There- 
fore in  a  certain  sense  it  is  true  to  say  that  Civics, 
like  charity,  begins  at  home,  if  we  regard  the  word 
Home  as  being  symbolic  of  the  provision  of  food, 
clothing,  shelter.  And  the  Civics  student  who 
is  not  a  mere  metaphysician  will  set  his  nation's 
house  in  order  before  proceeding  outwards  to 
deal  with  other  matters.  He  is  more  likely  to 
appreciate  the  importance  of  this  when  he  realises 
his  own  fundamental  characteristics  as  a  citizen. 
The  average  citizen  is  a  member  of  a  family 
either  by  relationship  or  by  dwelling  with  one, 
and  here  he  imbibes  his  first  lessons  in  social 
conduct.  His  outlook  is  largely  formed  by  the 
family,  and  its  influence  marks  him  throughout 
his  life.  During  his  early  years  he  is  also  moulded 
by  the  education  he  receives,  and  by  the  religion 
that  he  is  taught,  each  of  which  has  varying 
effects  according  to  its  quality.  But  for  some 
of  his  education  and  religion  he  goes  outside  the 
family  into  the  larger  community  of  which  most 
families  form  a  part.  Families  are  usually  them- 
selves members  of  a  village,  town,  or  city,  and 
this  exercises  a  wider,  more  complex  influence  on 
the  growing  citizen,  expands  his  mind  by  giving 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

him  more  interests,  and  teaches  him  the  truth 
that  no  man  can  live  independently  of  the  com- 
munity which  provides  him  with  all  that  distin- 
guishes his  life  from  that  of  a  savage. 

Villages,  towns,  and  cities  are  themselves  part 
of  a  larger  whole,  the  Country,  and  this  national 
unit  is,  at  our  present  stage  of  civilisation,  the  most 
important,  embracing  within  its  sphere  the  highest 
sentiments  and  most  devoted  work  of  its  citizens. 
Very  truly  can  the  native  land  say  to  her  children  : 

Thou  hast  no  common  birthright, 
Grand  memories  on  thee  shine. 

Inspired  by  the  patriotic  wish  to  enhance  the 
prestige  of  his  nation  which  a  noble  love  of  country 
arouses,  the  citizen  is  profoundly  moved  to  give 
his  services  for  the  benefit  of  the  land  that  has 
coloured  his  mind  by  its  hills  and  streams,  its 
woods  and  moorlands,  and  by  the  past  records 
of  its  sons  and  daughters.  In  these  days  of 
much  talk  of  internationalism  it  must  not  be 
overlooked  that  the  national  spirit  must  first  be 
strong  and  distinctive  in  order  to  take  a  worthy 
part  in  international  affairs.  The  nation  will  be 
the  medium  through  which  internationalism  will 
work,  and  there  can  be  no  international  inter- 
course without  nations. 

In  a  less  direct  sense  the  citizen  of  England  is 
72 


The  Fundamentals  of  Citizenship 

also  a  co-citizen  with  all  the  others  of  the  countries 
of  Western  Europe.  He  belongs  to  that  type 
of  civilisation  as  distinct  from  the  Asiatic  types ; 
and  it  is  the  civilisation  which  leads  the  world. 
But  it  is  impossible  to  make  Western  Europe  a 
part  of  the  next  unit,  the  British  Commonwealth, 
and  therefore  this  issue  is  omitted  in  the  diagram  ; 
no  diagram  can  adequately  depict  the  interactions 
of  civilisation  or  life. 

If  we  were  considering  a  seventeenth-century 
English  citizen  we  should  stop  at  this  point,  for 
there  was  no  larger  unit  in  those  times ;  but  in 
the  twentieth  century  there  are  dawning  the 
responsibilities  and  privileges  of  the  British  Com- 
monwealth, which  is  gradually  shaping  itself,  and 
evolving  a  definite  citizenship,  that  in  the  future 
is  likely  to  have  its  value  for  every  member. 
Each  section  of  the  Commonwealth  will  also  come 
to  contribute  its  genius  and  resources  to  the 
vast  whole,  and  to  share  as  a  partner  all  the 
advantages  of  membership  in  such  a  community ; 
a  community  which,  in  itself,  is  a  great  League 
of  Nations.  In  its  turn  this  league  rests  on  a 
greater,  now  in  formation,  the  potentialities  and 
consequences  of  which  have  yet  to  be  discovered 
and  experienced.  But  it  cannot  be  doubted  that 
the  League  of  Nations  idea  is  the  foreshadowing 
of  a  fact  which  will,  far  centuries  hence,  bind  all 

73 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

Humanity  into  one ;  and  that  unit  will  be  the 
final  one ;  the  unity  of  Humanity  is  the  goal  of 
civilisation. 

Thus  we  may  imagine  each  citizen  as  standing 
on  a  pyramidal  foundation,  the  base  of  which 
is  the  world  as  a  whole,  with  ascending  steps  of 
a  League  of  Nations,  the  British  Commonwealth, 
the  nation,  the  village,  town,  or  city,  and  the 
family.  They  are  his  roots  and  supports,  and 
to  them  he  owes  all  that  he  has  grown  to  be. 
Picturing  the  citizen  in  this  way  is  not  intended 
to  convey  an  individualistic  view  of  him,  for 
there  are  millions  of  others  at  that  apex,  and  it 
is  his  duty  to  judge  of  his  opinions  and  actions 
in  relation,  not  so  much  to  himself  as  to  the 
community  as  a  whole.  And  a  community  is 
more  than  an  aggregate  of  individuals.  A  chance 
crowd  can  be  so  described,  but  a  church,  a  society, 
a  town,  a  nation,  are  communities  with  a  spirit 
binding  them  in  a  sense  that  no  chance  crowd 
could  be  bound.  It  is  this  spirit  that  the  citizen 
must  regard ;  in  other  words  there  is  a  higher 
tribunal  than  his  individual  conscience. 

Arrived  at  his  full  estate  the  citizen  finds  himself 
restricted  in  many  ways,  but,  since  his  aim  is 
Service,  the  cry  of  Freedom  as  an  end  in  itself 
will  not  appeal  to  him ;  for  in  order  to  serve  he 
must  be  bound  and  limited,  so  that  his  desires 

74 


The  Fundamentals  of  Citizenship 

and  doings  may  not  work  to  the  detriment  of 
others.  Long  before  written  law  made  its  appear- 
ance, customs  and  traditions  were  barriers  to 
liberty,  and  they  formed  barriers  as  strong  as 
statutes.  Pericles  saw  their  force  in  calling  them 
"  those  unwritten  laws  which  bring  upon  the 
transgressors  of  them  the  reprobation  of  the 
general  sentiment."  Public  opinion  is  in  some 
cases  stronger  than  law,  and  in  early  days,  un- 
settled as  they  were,  such  restrictions  tended  to 
promote  the  stability  of  society,  and  thus  to  make 
ready  the  way  for  advance.  The  family  traditions 
handed  down  through  generations,  the  village 
customs,  the  social  fixity  of  the  feudal  days,  the 
caste  system,  have  all,  in  their  times,  been  power- 
ful agents  of  civilisation  regarded  from  the  aspect 
of  Order. 

Other  bars  to  the  citizen's  liberty  are  the 
central  government  and  laws,  which  have  become 
established  through  the  collective  wisdom  and 
wishes  of  his  ancestors,  and  to  which  he  should 
loyally  subordinate  himself,  or,  if  he  disapproves, 
he  should  attempt  to  change  them.  But  in  all 
cases,  appreciation  of  their  past  use  should  precede 
criticism  of  their  present  advantage  to  him.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  limitations  imposed  by 
the  by-laws  of  his  local  authority,  which  he  may 
himself  help  to  form.  It  is  especially  a  charac- 

75 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

teristic  of  English  progress  that  the  past  should 
be  linked  to  the  present,  a  characteristic  which 
should  be  noted  by  reformers  if  they  wish  to 
achieve  success.  It  was  a  British  citizen  who  said  : 

The  glory  of  England  is  its  capacity  to  blend  the  old 
with  the  new,  not  to  destroy  but  to  adapt ;  to  learn  from 
the  past,  but  not  to  be  enslaved  by  it ;  to  rejoice  in  modern 
progress,  but  to  attach  it  to  that  which  has  preceded  it.1 

The  bases  on  which  the  citizen  rests  refer  mainly 
to  the  past ;  his  limitations  are  of  the  present. 
So  far  we  have  considered  factors  which  have 
formed  him,  and  which  were  established  before 
he  appeared ;  but  there  remain  many  other 
factors  in  the  making  of  a  complete  citizen — his 
opportunities,  his  avenues  of  expansion,  his  means 
of  expressing  himself ;  these  are  of  the  present, 
but  they  also  merge  into  the  future.  It  is  impos- 
sible for  anyone  to  concentrate  on  all  the  openings 
of  activity  and  thought  which  reveal  themselves 
as  adulthood  is  reached,  but  everyone  should 
be  aware  of  the  significance  of  the  spheres  which 
they  disclose.  The  avenues  are  many  and  diver- 
gent, leading  to  all  the  domains  of  life  and  con- 
necting the  citizen  with  the  world  and  all  that 
in  it  is. 

His  family  responsibilities  come  nearest,  and 
in  the  case  of  many  women  citizens  this  sphere 

*  W.  H.  Freemantle. 
76 


The  Fundamentals  of  Citizenship 

is  the  one  wherein  their  energies  are  largely  used. 
To  a  certain  extent  a  semi-involuntary  means  of 
expression  and  activity,  the  .family  is  yet  the 
one  that  most  merges  the  citizen  into  the  life  of 
others,  and  those  who  live,  not  with  their  own 
family  or  any  other,  but  alone  in  "  rooms,"  thereby 
lose  a  humanising  and  broadening  influence  which 
nothing  but  the  intimacies  of  family  life  can 
supply.  Another  semi-involuntary  outlet  is  the 
citizen's  occupation,  which,  as  has  already  been 
seen,  deeply  affects  him,  and  through  which  he 
may  himself  affect  society,  whether  by  performing 
necessary  service  through  it,  by  forwarding  re- 
forms in  it,  or  by  extending  its  usefulness. 

Many  other  avenues  of  interest  and  use  remain, 
which,  though  not  so  close,  yet  provide  an  outlet 
for  civic  enthusiasm  ;  most  of  these  are  practically 
voluntary  and  followed  in  leisure  time.  There  is 
the  wide  field  of  Politics,  local,  national,  and  inter- 
national, with  a  larger  connotation  than  that 
given  to  it  by  mere  party  factions.  Not  only 
should  the  citizen  adopt  his  own  opinions  after 
careful  examination  of  every  side  that  experience 
can  give,  but  he  should  also  understand  why 
other  parties  hold  their  opinions,  and  be  able 
to  show  why  he  considers  them  mistaken.  It  is 
an  educative  exercise  to  read  the  leaders  of  news- 
papers differing  from  his  own  view,  and  to  attempt 

77 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

to  refute  the  arguments  therein.  Economics  are 
closely  connected  with  politics,  and  govern  them 
far  more  than  votes  do,  and  the  citizen  may  ba 
led  by  his  politics,  or  by  his  wish  for  an  assured 
status,  to  join  some  economic  association.  Thus 
he  may  expend  his  energies  in  the  work  of  a  Trade 
Union,  or  Co-operative  Society,  or  professional 
organisation,  which  forms  a  link  between  his 
politics  and  his  occupation.  Of  late  years  the 
opinions  of  such  organisations  have  had  much 
force,  and  the  possibility  of  their  conversion 
into  National  Guilds  is  one  that  those  with  an 
eye  to  the  future  have  considered,  whether  with 
approval  or  without. 

Various  schemes  for  improvement  are  always 
before  the  citizen,  and  in  some,  either  local  or 
national,  he  may  participate,  according  to  what 
reforms  he  has  at  heart.  A  housing  scheme,  some 
extensions  in  education,  attempts  to  provide  more 
beauty  in  daily  life,  the  promotion  of  health,  and 
innumerable  other  civic  activities  will  lead  the 
citizen  to  join  other  societies,  and  to  attend 
meetings,  especially  those  with  a  local  interest, 
for  he  must  remember  that  Civics  begins  at  home 
in  every  sense  that  can  be  applied  to  the  phrase. 

The  whole  realm  of  Art  is  open  before  him,  and 
it  reveals  that  which  will  expand  and  deepen 
his  feeling,  and  invest  with  new  meaning  all  the 

78 


The  Fundamentals  of  Citizenship 

common  things  of  life.  For  "  Art  for  art's  sake  " 
is  not  a  civic  phrase,  nor  is  it  ethical  or  philo- 
sophical. Art  should  be  for  Life's  sake,  whether 
the  art  be  literature,  or  painting,  or  architecture, 
or  music,  or  sculpture,  or  the  drama ;  and  if 
Art  be  not  connected  with  streets  and  houses 
as  well  as  with  studies  and  studios,  it  is  valueless 
to  citizenship  ;  for  to  what  end  should  the  citizen 
gain  the  culture  given  by  Art  ?  The  Muses  are  the 
handmaids,  as  well  as  the  inspirers,  of  mankind. 

The  world  of  Science,  both  theoretical  and 
applied,  lies  before  the  citizen,  and  the  same 
question  might  here  be  asked :  To  what  end 
should  Science  be  followed  and  its  secrets  used  ? 
The  war  has  given  a  terrible  example  of  the  way 
in  which  man's  discoveries  and  inventions  may 
be  utilised  when  the  talents  of  scientists  are 
not  devoted  to  the  welfare  of  the  world.  A  wide 
scope  of  industry  and  discovery  and  application 
is  present  for  the  citizen  with  scientific  tastes 
and  tendencies.  A  great  difference  between  the 
mediaeval  and  modern  citizen  is  brought  about 
by  the  power  in  the  hands  of  the  latter  to  control 
natural  forces,  a  power  that  is  not  only  due  to 
applied  science,  but  can  also  become  creative  in 
the  sense  of  forming  new  and  different  environment. 

Perhaps  the  most  accessible  method  of  keeping 
in  touch  with  civic  affairs  is  that  afforded  by  the 

79 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

Press,  which  includes  newspapers,  journals,  and 
books.  Newspapers  have  been  mentioned  before  ; 
it  only  remains  to  say  here,  that  there  is  at  present 
no  really  impartial  paper  in  existence,  and  there- 
fore all  opinions  expressed  in  newspapers  must 
be  read  in  the  light  of  that  fact.  Of  making 
many  books  there  is  no  end,  and  a  great  number 
are  unnecessary ;  but  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to 
distinguish  those  which  are  written  for  the  sake 
of  a  livelihood  from  those  wherein  a  human  spirit 
is  giving  needed  knowledge  or  expressing  con- 
victions or  visions.  Only  a  broad  education  will 
give  adequate  means  of  separating  what  is  written 
by  "  bookmakers,"  or  by  workers,  or  artists,  or 
pioneers. 

Lastly  there  are  the  avenues  that  lighten  as 
well  as  expand  the  soul :  recreations  of  all  kinds  ; 
clubs  for  various  purposes  ;  and  friends  to  fertilise 
thought,  exercise  feeling,  and  provide  companion- 
ship. It  will  already  have  been  realised  that  the 
complete  Citizen  is  concerned  with  far  more  than 
political  matters,  that  some  beauty  and  ceremonial 
are  needed  in  the  conception  of  citizenship,  and 
that,  in  fact,  all  life  touches  him  who  would  follow 
civic  pursuits  and  fulfil  civic  duties. 

Every  one  of  the  avenues  of  activity  mentioned 
forwards  the  education  of  the  citizen,  which  never 
ceases  so  long  as  his  interest  in  civic  matters 

80 


The  Fundamentals  of  Citizenship 

continues.  And  spreading  over  all  his  activities, 
suggesting  and  directing  them,  and  permeating 
and  inspiring  his  energies  is  the  philosophy  or 
religion  which  he  has  adopted  or  moulded  for 
himself.  Haphazard  or  muddled  thought,  not 
based  on  some  system  for  guidance,  leads  to 
mistakes  in  reforms,  ill-devised  plans,  and  badly 
regulated  public  actions ;  therefore  a  philosophy, 
or  religion,  or  both,  are  necessary  for  clear  thinking 
and  inspiration. 

An  attempt  has  been  made,  in  the  diagram 
that  follows,  to  picture  the  citizen,  his  bases, 
his  limitations,  and  his  means  of  expansion  and 
activity.  But  in  considering  charts  two  cautions 
are  most  strongly  voiced.  The  first  is  that  it  is 
not  well  to  work  from  a  diagram  to  facts  or  theories. 
The  chart  should  grow  (as  the  ones  contained 
in  this  book  have  done)  from  knowledge,  and 
thought,  and  discussion,  and  should  be  a  result 
rather  than  a  starting-point.  Secondly,  charts 
and  diagrams  are  always  too  fixed  and  mechanical 
to  illustrate  with  adequacy  any  living  subject. 
Life  is  dynamic ;  it  breaks  bounds,  and  grows 
beyond  any  static  conception ;  it  can  never  be 
enclosed.  And  therefore  any  aspect  or  part  of 
life  always  contains  more  than  a  piece  of  paper 
with  lines  and  words  can  reveal. 

81  F 


82 


CHAPTER  V 

SOCIAL  IDEAS 

THE  spirit  of  an  age,  the  atmosphere  of  thought, 
the  attitude  towards  moral  and  social  issues,  the 
values  apportioned  to  different  kinds  of  action, 
all  these  permeate  the  life  of  any  period,  and 
profoundly  influence  its  expression.  Changes  in 
social  ideas  come  very  slowly,  and  are  correctly 
estimated  only  by  those  trained  by  knowledge  of 
the  past  and  by  thought  concerning  the  present ; 
but  it  is  the  citizen's  duty  to  have  acquaintance 
with  the  prevailing  ideas  of  his  time,  since  ideas 
powerfully  mould  events  and  finally  become  \ 
embodied  in  institutions.  The  main  characteristic  \ 
of  a  good  citizen  is  usefulness,  and  in  order  to  be 
of  use  and  play  his  part  well,  he  must  know  the 
tendencies  of  his  time,  for  his  concern  with  the 
present  is  partly  in  view  of  the  future.  Therefore 
he  looks  around  and  attempts  to  foresee,  by  the 
light  of  what  has  happened  and  is  happening, 
that  which  is  likely  to  happen.  Alertness  on  his 
part  will  detect  for  him  significances  and  tendencies 

83 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

that  are  pregnant  with  meaning.  In  every  decade 
new  aspects  are  revealed,  latent  tendencies  are 
developed,  and  possibilities,  hitherto  unknown, 
appear.  Ten  years  ago,  how  many  could  have 
foretold  the  Russian  Revolution,  Food  Control,  the 
Coal  Commission  ?  These  momentous  things,  how- 
ever, did  not  come  suddenly,  nor  was  the  war 
solely  responsible  for  them.  The  great  war  with 
Napoleon  a  century  ago  did  not  produce  such 
results,  for  their  time  had  not  yet  come ;  the 
hundred  years  between  made  ready  the  spheres 
wherein  citizenship  works,  and  prepared  the 
developments  hastened  by  the  war.  Discerning 
citizens  could,  however,  even  ten  years  ago,  per- 
ceive the  general  tendency  towards  national  control 
and  more  real  democratic  government ;  yet  they 
could  not  foresee  the  great  disturbing  forces  of 
1914-18  which  accelerated  all  movements. 

Civics  is  a  subject  of  continuance,  and  the 
citizen's  observations  and  interests  cease  only 
with  his  life.  He  will  be  the  most  effective  citizen 
who  places  his  energies  in  the  stream  of  tendencies 
flowing  along  the  course  of  civilisation,  which 
itself  implies  continuance,  and  inspires  to  work 
for  the  future.  Without  wasting  his  time  on 
side-issues  of  no  permanent  value,  the  instructed 
citizen  possessed  of  insight  is  sure  of  his  work 
continuing,  even  more  sure  than  a  few  years 

84 


Social  Ideas 

ago  ;  for,  though  it  is  not  easy  to  detect  the 
almost  imperceptible  merging  of  an  attitude  or 
of  a  generally  accepted  standard  into  something 
different,  yet  during  the  last  five  years  all  pro- 
cesses have  been  hastened,  and  therefore  more 
opportunities  have  occurred  for  the  citizen  to 
exercise  his  acumen. 

The  detection  and  interpretation  of  modern 
tendencies  is  in  one  sense  the  climax  of  Civics 
study.  It  is  here  that  the  citizen  sees  whither 
we  are  going,  formulates  our  present  needs,  and 
has  his  duties  shown  in  the  form  of  actual  and 
definite  work.  This  detection  and  interpretation 
need  practice  as  well  as  insight  and  knowledge, 
for  it  is  the  significance  of  events  which  has  to 
be  noted  rather  than  the  event  itself.  As  an 
example  may  be  cited  the  Registration  Act  of 
1915,  which  in  itself  came  to  no  practical  issue, 
but  which  indicated  that  the  nation,  for  the 
first  time  in  its  history,  expected  all  its  sons  and 
daughters  to  contribute  something  definite  to  the 
welfare  of  the  community.  The  demand  of  the 
miners  for  the  nationalisation  (which  does  not 
mean  State  Control)  of  the  mines  is  another  in- 
stance of  an  event  which  signifies  much  change 
in  the  thought  and  action  of  the  world  of  industry. 
The  war  accelerated  the  desire  of  various  parts 
of  the  British  Empire  to  be  more  closely  concerned 

85 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

in  the  affairs  of  their  Commonwealth ;  but  those 
who  had  noticed  the  Imperial  Conferences  held 
since  1897  detected  this  wish  several  years  before 
the  war  made  the  demand  so  definite.  In  each 
of  these  cases  the  event  is  charged  with  more 
significance  than  appears  on  the  surface,  for  it  is 
the  expression  of  ideas  that  had  been  working 
and  spreading  long  before.  And  other  ideas  are 
even  now  permeating  our  own  times. 

The  cry  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  Liberty, 
Equality,  Fraternity ;  and,  judged,  as  all  ideals 
should  be,  relatively  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
time,  it  was  a  wholesome  and  progressive  demand  ; 
but  in  a  certain  sense  it  is  out  of  date  in  the 
twentieth  century.  Liberty  would  throw  off 
shackles,  social  and  legal,  and  leave  men  free  ; 
Equality  asserted  the  intrinsic  dignity  of  each 
human  being ;  Fraternity  gave  the  motive  for 
being  free.  But  these  terms  have  not  now  the 
connotation  which  the  nineteenth-century  idealists 
gave  to  them.  Freedom  is  sometimes  regarded 
as  an  end  in  itself,  and  praises  are  bestowed  upon 
mere  liberty  irrespective  of  the  uses  to  which 
it  may  be  put.  But  this  glorification  of  Freedom 
in  itself  is  not  conducive  to  good  citizenship,  nor 
to  the  progress  of  civilisation ;  for  a  community 
might  be  conceived  in  which  all  were  theoretically 
and  legally  free  and  the  strong  used  their  freedom 

86 


Social  Ideas 

to  exploit  the  weak.  Freedom  allowed  factory 
owners  to  employ  young  children  for  long  hours  ; 
freedom  would  allow  the  profiteer  to  continue. 
Why  should  citizens  be  free  ?  Is  it  that  they 
may  develop  their  capacities  freely  ?  But  capaci- 
ties highly  developed  might  be  used  to  harm 
others,  as  are  those  of  the  expert  pickpocket. 
Self-development  is  not  an  end  in  itself ;  whether 
it  is  worthy  or  not  depends  on  the  ends  to  which 
the  self  is  dedicated. 

When  the  Greeks  made  their  stand  against 
the  Persians  to  retain  their  freedom,  we  feel  they 
made  a  right  resistance,  and  are  glad  that  Mara- 
thon is  a  name  signifying  their  success.  But  why 
are  we  glad  ?  It  was  not  because  a  few  small 
States  overcame  the  mighty  power  of  Persia  and 
so  preserved  their  liberty,  but  because  one  of 
those  States  was  thereby  able,  to  a  greater  extent 
than  perhaps  any  other  since,  to  influence  civilisa- 
tion. That  is,  the  freedom  of  the  Greeks  is  of 
value  according  to  the  use  made  of  it.  On  the 
other  hand,  when  the  conquering  Alexander  sub- 
dued Eastern  lands,  our  sympathies  remain  with 
him,  because  he  spread  Greek  ideas  and  laws 
and  a  higher  type  of  civilisation  than  that  reached 
by  those  he  conquered  ;  therefore  their  loss  of 
freedom  hastened  their  progress.  Another  in- 
stance of  the  loss  of  freedom  carrying  a  people 

87 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

forward  is  that  of  the  temporary  subjection  of 
the  Anglo-Saxons  in  England,  which  caused  their 
customs  and  institutions  to  be  merged  in  those 
of  the  Normans,  an  amalgamation  which  ultimately 
produced  a  race  that  is  the  richer  in  civic  and 
civilising  capacity  than  it  otherwise  would  have 
been.  However,  this  method  of  conquest  with 
the  object  of  imposing  a  superior  culture  is  not 
one  for  the  twentieth  century  to  adopt. 

Expressed  in  one  word,  the  aim  of  the  citizen 
is  not  Freedom  but  Service.  To  a  certain  extent 
he  must  be  free  to  serve,  but  he  must  also 
be  limited  in  many  ways,  to  prevent  harm 
accruing  to  others  through  his  free  actions.  For 
this  reason,  the  twentieth  century  does  not  con- 
sider Freedom  as  an  end  in  itself,  but  only  as  a 
means  to  the  great  end  of  Service.  The  term 
Fraternity  should  imply  service,  but  it  too  often 
degenerates  into  a  mere  vague  feeling  that  savours 
of  sentimentality,  instead  of  sane  practical  help, 
definitely  designed  to  carry  out  some  worthy 
civic  purpose.  It  is  comparatively  useless  for 
the  heart  to  say  Love  one  another  if  the  brain  is 
not  actively  engaged  with  schemes  to  deal  with 
those  who  do  not  follow  the  command.  The 
citizen  must  concern  himself  with  things  as  they 
are,  and  whether  he  believes  or  not  that  the  World 

Beautiful  would  come  if  everyone  loved  everyone 

88 


Social  Ideas 

else,  he  must  face  the  fact  that  such  is  not  the 
case  at  present ;  nor  will  it  ever  come  about 
through  mere  exhortation.  Feeling  should  be 
accompanied  by  strenuous  thought  and  vigorous 
action,  which  are  the  antidotes  to  sentimentality ; 
and  feeling,  thought,  and  action  should  all  be 
dedicated  to  service. 

Equality  was  a  cry  which  asserted  the  intrinsic 
dignity  of  a  human  being,  and  for  its  time  it  was 
a  necessary  and  hope-inspired  cry.  But  much 
depends  on  the  meaning  ascribed  to  equality. 
Does  it  mean  that  all  men  are  equal,  or  that  all 
should  have  equality  of  opportunity  ?  Does  it 
mean  all  are  equally  capable,  or  all  should  have 
equal  respect  ?  The  citizen  should  have  clear 
ideas  regarding  equality,  especially  with  the  im- 
plications involved  in  that  aspect  of  it  now  much 
to  the  forefront  and  dealing  with  equal  pay. 
Most  of  those  who  are  clamant  on  this  question 
have  not  considered  the  matter  below  the  surface, 
but  the  following  points  all  arise  from  it : 

What  is  the  comparative  value  of  different 
kinds  of  work  ? 

How  is  the  intrinsic  value  of  work  to  be 
estimated  ? 

Does  equal  pay  mean  such  amounts  as  will 
bring  an  equal  standard  of  living  ? 
89 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

Is  equal  work  to  be  measured  in  terms  of 
quantity,  or  quality,  or  length  of  time  spent 
on  it,  or  expenditure  of  energy,  or  amount  of 
thought  bestowed  upon  it  ? 

From  one  point  of  view  the  demand  for  equal 
pay  for  equal  work  is  logical  and  seemingly  just ; 
in  a  commercial  sense  it  is  quite  just.  But  is 
it  just  in  the  higher  sphere  of  social  justice  ?  The 
twentieth  century  has  passed  beyond  the  com- 
mercialism of  the  nineteenth,  and  expects  some- 
thing better  from  its  sons  and  daughters  than  the 
bargain  :  /  paid  so  much  for  my  preparation,  and 
you  must  repay  me  with  interest ;  or  Here  are  my 
capabilities,  and  I  demand  so  much  for  their  use. 
This  spirit  of  bargaining  is  a  sordid  one,  unworthy 
of  citizens ;  the  spirit  of  service  has  a  different 
standard.  It  would  be  well  if  all  citizens  realised 
that  payment  for  work,  whether  equal  or  unequal, 
is  a  conception  which  is  slowly  being  shaken. 
Though  civilised  society  at  present  associates  the 
idea  of  labour  with  the  idea  of  pay,  yet  it  has 
done  so  only  for  the  last  six  or  seven  centuries, 
and  various  indications  point  to  a  slight  shifting 
of  the  point  of  view.  The  reduction  of  income 
tax  on  account  of  dependents ;  the  recent  Army 
order  giving  more  pay  to  officers  with  families ; 
the  higher  scale  of  payment  to  women  having 

90 


Social  Ideas 

children  to  maintain  in  the  training  scheme  for 
wholesale  tailoring  by  the  Ministry  of  Labour ; 
these  are  all  instances  showing  that  pay  is  not 
given  merely  for  the  work  done,  but  also  according 
to  the  need.  Various  suggestions  with  regard  to 
the  pay  of  teachers  also  voice  the  veering  of 
opinion  from  pay  for  work  to  salary  according 
to  need  :  a  member  of  the  Birmingham  Education 
Committee  suggested  that  unmarried  men  should 
be  placed  on  the  women's  scale ;  another  sugges- 
tion has  been  made  that  employers  should  pay 
equally  for  equal  work,  and  the  State  should 
supplement  by  allowances  for  dependents.  The 
significance  of  all  this  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
differentiation  implies  a  recognition  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  maintenance  for  the  family — a  valuable 
and  vital  principle,  since  on  the  well-being  of 
the  family  rests  the  welfare  of  society. 

Another  tendency  with  regard  to  pay  must  be 
noted.  It  is  that  indicated  by  payment  during 
unemployment,  and  it  signifies  the  beginning  of 
the  break-down  of  the  wage-system  in  favour  of 
that  of  salaries.  The  difference  between  the  two 
consists  in  that  wages  are  pay,  usually  weekly, 
for  the  use  of  the  earner's  labour-power ;  if  the 
work  is  left  undone  through  illness  or  absence 
or  other  causes,  the  wage  is  not  paid.  Day  and 
weekly  labourers  are  paid  in  this  way,  and,  in  a 

91 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

sense,  doctors'  and  lawyers'  fees  are  wages ;  but 
they  are  sufficiently  high  to  allow  of  holidays 
and  illnesses  in  easy  circumstances.  A  salary  is 
money  paid  for  services  during  the  year,  whether 
work  is  done  all  the  time  or  not ;  teachers,  medical 
officers  in  an  institution,  civil  servants,  etc.,  are 
paid  in  this  way.  It  will  be  seen  that  a  salary 
is  further  removed  from  the  idea  of  pay  merely 
for  work  than  are  wages. 

In  time,  but  probably  not  for  some  centuries, 
the  system  of  pay  for  work  will  be  generally  re- 
garded as  crude  and  uncivic,  just  as  the  system 
of  slavery,  once  so  widespread  and  seemingly 
permanent,  is  now  considered  crude  and  inhuman. 
And  let  him  who  doubts  this  remember  the  remark 
made  in  a  previous  chapter  about  Aristotle  and 
his  inability  to  conceive  of  a  society  without 
slavery ;  it  is  possible  that  some  things  which 
now  seem  essentials  of  a  stable  society  may 
gradually  be  eliminated.  To  some  it  has  already 
become  conceivable  that  the  idea  of  work  does 
not  necessarily  involve  that  of  pay,  and  the 
citizen  should  be  cognisant  of  all  such  signs  of 
the  times.  Certain  it  is  that  our  attitude  towards 
work  will  change  when  no  more^  futile,  worthless 
work  is  done,  when  hours  of  work  are  shorter, 
when  the  reward  for  work  well  done  is  the  assign- 
ment of  more  responsible  work,  when  all  work  is 

93 


Social  Ideas 

a  form  of  service,  when  education  points  to  such 
service  as  the  duty  and  privilege  of  each  citizen. 
Then  we  may  come  to  regard  work,  not  as  an  evil 
to  be  shunned,  but  as  a  good  to  be  sought. 

These  two  tendencies — that  towards  the  sub- 
stitution of  salaries  for  wages  and  that  towards 
the  payment  of  salaries,  not  according  to  work 
but  according  to  need — are,  as  has  been  shown, 
really  tendencies,  sometimes  very  slight  and  not 
always  present ;  but  they  are  not  mere  ideals, 
and  this  must  be  borne  in  mind  in  discussions  on 
equality  or  equal  pay,  for  tendencies,  if  they  are 
in  the  line  of  social  evolution,  become  in  time 
institutions  and  social  facts.1 

Connected  to  some  degree  with  the  question 
of  Equality  is  that  of  Leadership  ;  and  here  also 
changes  are  occurring  with  regard  to  the  concep- 
tion of  a  Leader.  The  thoughtful  citizen  would 
not  now  unhesitatingly  accept  Carlyle's  dictum 
that  history  was  "  the  biography  of  great  men." 
No  person  now  could  grasp  all  the  knowledge  of 
his  time  as  Aristotle  did,  nor  excel  in  all  the  spheres 
wherein  Michael  Angelo  shone,  for  knowledge  in 
all  spheres  has  increased  to  an  extent  too  great 
for  it  to  be  possible.  Social  conditions  and  in- 

1  Socialists,  by  their  insistence  on  the  abolition  of  the 
wages  system,  mean  that  all  should  be  paid  a  salary 
according  to  need. 

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The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

stitutions  have  also  become  far  more  complicated, 
and  no  one  figure  can  dominate  all  fields  similarly 
to  Julius  Caesar.  On  account  of  the  separation 
of  functions,  eminence  can  now  be  gained  only 
in  one  or  two  fields ;  a  sentence  in  Pitt's  last 
public  speech  implies  this  conception  of  lessened 
leadership.  He  said,  after  the  victory  of  Trafalgar, 
"  Europe  cannot  be  saved  by  one  man  "  ;  and 
he  was  right.  Therefore  the  very  march  of  civili- 
sation has  caused  the  extinction  of  Titans,  and 
nowadays  any  one  individual  is  of  less  importance, 
but  all  individuals  are  of  more  importance. 

Another  aspect  of  leadership  has  been  present 
throughout  the  ages,  but  only  as  sociology  has 
developed  has  it  been  realised.  It  is  that  no 
teacher  ever  enunciated  a  message  that  was  evolved 
solely  by  himself,  no  prophet  expounded  a  vision 
that  others  had  not  glimpsed  in  part,  no  leader 
ever  led  a  people  to  action  for  which  his  followers 
were  not  ready.  It  is  as  though  a  poet,  a  dis- 
coverer, a  philosopher,  gathered  threads  from 
many  hands  and  wove  them  into  a  garment  of 
truth  or  beauty  ;  yet  a  garment  is  a  very  different 
thing  from  a  number  of  scattered  threads.  In 
this  respect  the  great  person  is  a  product  of  his 
time  as  well  as  a  moulder  of  it,  a  learner  as  well 
as  a  teacher,  a  gatherer  of  stray  gleams  of  light 
as  well  as  a  beacon ;  not  only  does  the  stream 

94 


Social  Ideas 

irrigate  the  fields  of  the  country  through  which 
it  flows,  but  it  also  takes  into  itself  raindrops 
and  tributaries  all  along  its  course.  Thus  the 
real  function  of  a  so-called  leader  is  to  interpret ; 
he  is  an  interpreter  who  detects  the  tendencies 
of  his  time  and  explains  his  followers  to  them- 
selves. Very  often  this  is  done  unconsciously ; 
but  the  increased  sensitiveness  of  human  nature 
will  enable  the  observant  and  thoughtful  to 
analyse  the  leader's  main  sources  of  inspiration, 
as  he  himself  will  increasingly  do. 

Even  as  the  eye  of  man  can  now  detect  more 
shades  of  colour  than  could  the  ancients,  so  the 
human  mind  becomes  finer,  more  subtle,  more 
aware  of  distinctions  ;  and  human  feelings  become 
more  poignant,  more  open  to  delicate  impulsions. 
As  evolution  proceeds,  the  structure  of  our  very 
souls  changes.  Our  feelings,  in  complexity  and 
range,  are  as  different  from  those  of  primitive 
man  as  is  "  an  infant  crying  in  the  night  "  from 
Antigone  weeping  over  her  brother  and  brooding 
on  her  duty  and  destiny.  Habits  and  manners 
are  changed,  and  that  which  our  ancestors  have 
forged  out  and  stamped  upon  the  citizen-soul 
comes  to  us  without  effort — the  courtesies  of  daily 
life,  the  sense  of  responsibility  for  others,  and 
what  might  be  called  a  social  sensitiveness,  are 
part  of  the  citizen's  inheritance ;  and  by  means 

95 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

of  this  more  sensitive  social  apprehension  he 
discerns  evils  which  must  be  eliminated,  and 
conditions  which  can  be  allowed  no  longer. 

As  another  consequence  of  the  increase  in 
sensitiveness  which  has  been  evinced  as  history 
proceeds,  there  has  come  a  change  in  sanctions, 
restraints,  methods  of  exhortation  and  of  education. 
When  an  individual,  a  school,  a  society  is  not 
sensitive  to  higher  promptings  it  needs  restraints 
and  prohibitions ;  Thou  shall  not  .  .  .  is  the 
commandment  of  a  people  imperfectly  developed 
in  the  moral  sense,  and  it  always  precedes  Follow 
the  gleam.  The  one  is  negative  and  forbids,  the 
other  is  positive  and  urges ;  the  one  causes  a 
shrinkage  of  the  sensitive  soul,  the  other  causes 
its  expansion.  It  is  nobler  to  point  towards  a 
good  to  be  attained  than  towards  an  evil  to  be 
avoided  ;  but  it  requires  a  higher  stage  of  civilisa- 
tion to  appreciate  this  method,  and  a  higher 
type  of  personality  to  carry  it  out.  The  citizen 
may  work  along  two  lines,  the  positive  and  the 
negative,  the  latter  being  the  easier.  Negative 
forces  are  useful  in  exposing  evils  and  criticising 
conditions ;  but  they  are  merely  destructive,  and 
attempt  to  rid  society  of  certain  institutions  or 
tendencies  without  offering  others  to  replace 
them.  Exposures,  criticisms,  and  ridicule  may 
pursue  their  destructive  course,  and  to  some 

96 


Social  Ideas 

extent  it  is  a  necessary  one,  which  clears  the 
ground  of  evils  and  mistakes.  But  bare  ground 
is  not  sufficient  for  the  homes  of  citizens ;  the 
planter  and  builder  must  do  their  share.  So 
destruction  without  construction  is  incomplete  as 
a  civilising  agent,  and  he  who  merely  grumbles 
is  thereby  showing  his  poverty  of  mind  and  lack 
of  initiative  ;  mere  grumbling  is  the  futile  ex- 
pression of  incapacity.  By  forming  a  constructive 
~plan  far  nobler  results  follow,  for  here  the  citizen 
builds  the  good  and  pursues  the  ideal.  Proposals 
for  betterment  are  as  far  above  schemes  of  de- 
struction as  town  planning  is  above  pulling  down 
slums,  or  as  educating  young  citizens  is  above 
punishing  criminals.  The  one  stops  short  at 
destroying  evil,  the  other  produces  a  good  which 
would  itself  neutralise  the  evil ;  the  one  con- 
centrates on  the  worse,  the  other  on  the  better ; 
the  one  destroys,  the  other  creates.  Since  human 
evolution  is,  in  Bergson's  wonderful  phrase,  a 
creative  evolution,  the  citizen  who  constructs  is 
thereby  adding  his  share  to  the  forces  that  move 
the  world. 

The  positive  is  the  method  for  the  twentieth 
century,  and  the  citizen's  support  should  be 
given  not  so  much  to  schemes  which  prohibit, 
like  Veto  Bills,  as  to  those  which  would  provide 
such  conditions  or  educate  to  such  a  degree  that 

97  G 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

the  danger  of,  or  the  desire  for,  a  particular  evil 
would  be  minimised.  The  idea  of  self-denial 
and  asceticism  as  good  in  themselves  belongs  to 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  was  appropriate  and  use- 
ful then,  but  not  now.  Asceticism  in  itself  is 
of  no  value  to  humanity.  A  race  which  willingly 
and  gladly  does  without  because  it  does  not  want 
the  lower  thing  is  in  reality  more  highly  developed 
than  one  which  hankers  after  the  flesh-pots  of 
Egypt,  even  if  it  does  not  strive  to  obtain  them. 
There  are  two  kinds  of  self-denial— that  which 
denies  because  the  thing  desired  is  considered  evil, 
and  that  which  denies  for  the  benefit  of  others. 
Than  the  latter  nothing  could  be  nobler ;  but  the 
former  presupposes  a  desire  for  the  wrong,  other- 
wise there  would  be  no  self-denial.  Which  is 
the  higher  :  he  who  does  without  because  he  does 
not  want,  or  he  who  wants  and  does  without 
because  he  thinks  his  desire  is  wrong  ?  A  concrete 
case  can  be  considered  by  asking  the  question 
in  another  form  :  Is  he  who  craves  for  drink  and 
denies  himself  a  higher  or  lower  type  than  he 
who  does  not  like  it  ?  Should  we  endeavour  to 
train  a  race  that  kept  the  craving,  and  was  taught 
to  self-deny,  or  a  race  that  delighted  in  simple 
tastes  ?  The  question  is  reminiscent  of  the  theory 
that  it  would  be  wrong  to  do  away  with  poverty, 

for  then  no  one  could  practise  the  virtue  of  charity  ! 

98 


Social  Ideas 

The  religion  of  Buddhism  contains  much  of  noble 
ness  and  greatness ;  but  it  is  a  creed  of  negativism 
and  attempts  to  solve  the  difficulties  of  life  by  in 
culcating  the  doctrine  of  desirelessness,  which 
produces  an  attitude  that  does  not  face  the  prob- 
lems, but  evades  them.  Similarly  negativist  was 
the  attitude  of  the  conscientious  objectors  in  the 
late  war ;  they  failed  in  true  citizenship  by  evading 
the  conflict  of  ideas  and  action  and  withdrawing 
themselves  from  their  nation's  trouble.  The  great 
poet-citizen  Milton  once  said,  "  I  cannot  praise  a 
fugitive  and  cloistered  virtue,  unexercised  and 
unbreathed,  that  never  sallies  out  and  sees  her 
adversary,  but  slinks  out  of  the  race,  where  that 
immortal  garland  is  to  be  run  for,  not  without 
dust  and  heat." 

The  mistake  made  by  the  moralists  of  negativism 
is  that  of  basing  their  theories  on  mere  thought 
dissociated  from  action  and  actualities.  The  com- 
mon-sense remark,  It  depends  on  circumstances  .  .  . 
takes  account  of  the  doctrine  of  Relativity,  and 
is  of  more  civic  and  ethical  value  than  the  narrow 
You  must  never  do  that.  There  is  a  vast  differ- 
ence between  the  relativist's  view  that  war  is  an 
evil,  but  that  in  our  present  stage  of  civilisation 
some  wars  are  necessary,  and  the  absolutist's 
dictum  that  all  wars  are  always  wrong,  which 
leaves  out  of  account  ancient  ideals,  the  realities 

99 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

of  human  nature,  and  the  circumstances  of  different 
times.  No  room  exists  in  the  modern  world  of 
civic  action  and  construction  for  that  brother 
of  the  metaphysician,  the  Absolutist ;  for  reality 
of  past  and  present  is  what  citizenship  must  base 
its  ideals  upon,  and  in  order  to  discover  reality, 
the  citizen-student  must  allow  for  relative  standards 
according  to  times  and  customs.  His  view  must 
be  essentially  sane  and  balanced,  and  he  must 
regard  things  material  and  spiritual,  economic  and 
ethical,  in  due  proportion  and  with  recognition 
of  their  interaction  and  of  their  relative  develop- 
ment at  different  periods  of  history.1 

The  grandest  social  idea  towards  the  fulfilment 
of  which  civilisation  slowly  moves  is  that  of  the 
Unity  of  Humanity  and  its  conscious  direction 
of  its  own  destiny.  In  memorable  words  Pascal 
has  embodied  this  conception  :  The  whole  succession 
of  men  during  the  course  of  so  many  centuries  should 
be  regarded  as  One  Man,  ever  living  and  constantly 
learning.  By  the  unity  of  humanity  is  not  meant 
a  vague  cosmopolitanism,  but  a  stage  when  no 
section,  though  aware  of  its  own  history  and 
intrinsic  qualities,  will  segregate  itself  from  any 
other  section  or  from  the  whole.  Such  signs 

1  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Einstein's  theory  of 
relativity  carries  the  principle  into  the  realms  of  science, 
as  well  as  those  of  philosophy  and  ethics. 

100 


Social  Ideas 

as  the  conception  of  a  universal  language  like 
Esperanto  and  the  formation  of  a  League  of 
Nations,  indicate  that  Humanity  is  beginning  to 
know  itself  as  an  entity,  and  the  realisation 
brings  a  new  sense  of  power.  Collectively,  but 
not  individually,  mankind  has  its  fate  in  its  own 
hands,  and  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  conscious 
of  this  power.  Citizens  generate  forces,  many 
and  various,  which  operate  against,  or  with,  or 
alongside  of  each  other,  and,  as  surely  as  the 
apple  falls  to  the  ground  and  the  moon  does  not, 
so  do  these  forces  form  the  grand  result  that 
we  call  human  history.  We  made  that  history  ; 
we  direct  the  course  of  civilisation,  we  decide  our 
own  destiny.  It  is  a  question  of  direction  ;  and 
when  humanity  becomes  more  self-conscious  it 
will  realise  its  capacity  to  attain  what  it  desires. 
Hence  arises  the  need  for  the  citizen  to  have  a 
definite  aim  and  to  understand  the  tendencies 
which  produce  the  results  and  complications  of 
his  time  ;  for  on  his  efforts,  in  conjunction  with 
those  of  others,  will  the  direction  taken  by  progress 
depend. 


101 


CHAPTER  VI 
SPHERES   OF   REORGANISATION 

RECONSTRUCTION  of  a  new  world  is  a  phrase  that 
has  been  repeated  more  often  than  any  other 
since  the  war,  but  it  is,  in  a  sense,  misleading. 
The  Civics  student  will  understand  that  no  new 
world  can  be  founded  or  reconstructed,  for  the  old 
world  is  ever  present,  and  must  be  carried  on 
with  all  its  legacies  ;  any  reconstruction  that  is 
brought  about  must  be  based  on  what  has  been. 
The  foundations  of  the  edifice  are  already  laid  ; 
but  that  very  metaphor  reveals  that  the  word 
"  reconstruction  "  implies  something  mechanical, 
lifeless,  and  is  not  quite  applicable  to  human  life, 
or  the  expression  of  the  human  spirit.  Re- 
organisation is  a  more  living  word  ;  an  organ  is 
a  part  of  a  living  thing,  and  to  re-organ-ise  implies 
the  handling  of  an  organism,  that  is,  of  something 
that  lives,  and  is  therefore  subject  to  growth. 
Instead  of  talking  about  the  reconstruction  of  a 
new  world,  which  partly  implies  the  creation  of  a 
new  world  from  the  beginning,  it  is  better,  both 

IO2 


Spheres  of  Reorganisation 

logically  and  civically,  to  consider  the  reorganisa- 
tion of  the  old  world,  which  means  the  creation 
of  the  future  from  the  materials,  both  physical 
and  spiritual,  of  the  past  and  the  present. 

What  are  the  materials  ?  First  there  are 
natural  forces  and  the  earth's  products  :  sunshine 
and  rain,  water-power  and  electricity,  the  soil  and 
vegetation,  metals,  coal,  oil,  stone,  and  fish,  sheep, 
cattle,  working  horses.  The  last  three  are  partly 
the  effect  of  man's  handiwork,  which  is  the  second 
class  of  our  materials  and  includes  buildings  of  all 
kinds,  machinery,  engineering  feats,  railways,  and 
ships.  Thirdly,  there  is  what  might  be  termed  the 
culture  which  has  been  acquired,  and  which  consists 
of  all  the  knowledge  gained  by  mankind  and 
preserved,  and  all  the  art  and  literature  that 
remains.  The  rest  of  the  materials  ready  can  be 
comprehended  within  the  term  Experience  and  its 
results  :  it  comprises  the  skill  in  using  knowledge, 
power  of  organisation,  methods  of  government, 
philosophies,  and  morality.  The  history  of  our 
race  lives  in  these  materials  with  which  citizenship 
can  reorganise  the  old  world,  and  they  are  a 
mighty  heritage. 

The  whole  purpose  of  the  study  of  Civics  has 
been  frustrated  if  it  does  not  lead  to  the  desire 
to  have  some  comprehension  of,  and  participation 
in,  the  great  movements  of  the  time.  All  prepara- 

103 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

tion  for  citizenship  is  useless  unless  citizenship  is 
practised.  Preparation  consists  of  knowledge  and 
appreciation  ;  practice  consists  of  action  definitely 
directed  to  the  welfare  of  a  distinct  community. 
So  many  citizens  consider  that  they  have  done  their 
duty  if  they  have  made  themselves  cultured,  or 
if  they  faithfully  obey  the  laws,  or  if  they  subscribe 
to  worthy  objects,  or  if  they  perform  some  useful 
work.  But  that  is  only  one  side  of  citizenship ; 
the  other  is  not  so  safe,  it  is  agitating  and  unsure, 
it  involves  the  recognition  of  responsibilities  for  the 
dark  spots,  the  disease,  the  poverty,  the  ignorance, 
which  the  comfortable  citizens  have  escaped. 
Neither  side  should  be  neglected,  and  a  balance 
of  the  citizen's  forces  can  be  established  by 
common  sense.  The  Greeks  had  discovered  a 
profound  truth  when  they  formulated  their  phrase, 
"  the  golden  mean,"  and  like  all  profound  truths, 
it  is  applicable  to  far  more  than  was  at  first 
realised.  The  golden  mean  signifies  more  than  a 
middle  course  ;  it  is  a  harmonious  line  of  advance 
chosen  after  strivings  and  mistakes.  Just  as 
equilibrium  does  not  mean  mere  stagnation,  but 
the  delicate  and  exact  balance  of  forces  on  a 
certain  area,  so  a  balance  of  the  citizen's  energies 
is  not  inaction,  but  the  result  of  action. 

What  might  be  called  the  climax  of  Civics  study 

is    concerned    with    reorganisation    in    the    fields 

104 


Spheres  of  Reorganisation 

wherein  an  instructed  citizenship,  marked  by 
sanity  of  view  and  inspired  by  visions,  is  awaited. 
There  are  five  main  spheres  in  which  reorganisa- 
tion is  actually  taking  place  at  present ;  and  the 
efficient  citizen  will  endeavour  to  keep  cognisance 
of  what  is  happening  in  each  sphere,  though  it  is 
not  possible  for  him  to  exercise  his  energies  in  all 
of  them.  A  short  review  of  the  factors  working 
in  the  various  sections  of  the  different  spheres  is 
here  attempted. 

Beginning  with  the  earth  itself,  the  basis  of 
all  our  life,  it  will  be  noticed  that  with  regard  to 
the  EARTH'S  PRODUCTS  a  different  conception 
is  held  in  the  sense  that  it  is  considered  they 
should  be  more  cultivated,  more  protected  and 
preserved,  rather  than  ruthlessly  gathered  with 
little  view  to  the  future.  Far  more  can  be  obtained 
from  the  earth  than  hitherto  :  the  irrigation  of 
deserts  is  in  its  infancy ;  the  reclamation  of 
waste  lands,  in  the  way  the  mouth  of  the  Ganges 
has  been  made  productive  by  man's  handiwork, 
is  but  beginning  ;  and  such  tracts  as  the  vast 
expanses  of  Brazil  await  cultivation.  As  has  been 
pointed  out  by  Mr.  H.  A.  L.  Fisher,  we  have 
failed  to  make  proper  use  of  the  water  power  in 
this  country  and  in  the  Commonwealth  in  general. 
He  asked ' : 

*  In  March  1919. 
105 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

Have  we  given  enough  attention  to  hydro-engineering  ? 
Should  we  not  multiply  our  hydraulic  laboratories  and 
train  up  a  body  of  hydraulic  engineers  who  would  be 
capable  of  turning  our  natural  resources  to  the  best 
account  ?  Has  not  the  time  come  for  the  State  to  make 
a  general  survey  of  its  most  pressing  needs  in  the  sphere 
of  physical  science  ? 

What  wonderful  stores  of  energy  yet  remain  to 
be  utilised  centuries  hence  can  only  be  guessed  at. 
But  Sir  Oliver  Lodge l  and  other  physicists  and 
chemists  assert  that  we  are  on  the  brink  of  a 
discovery  with  regard  to  the  internal  energy  of 
matter,  and  that  our  descendants  will,  instead  of 
using  coal  and  oxygen,  make  use  of  atomic  energy. 
Another  indication  of  the  increased  care  and 
respect  for  the  earth,  our  home,  is  seen  in  the 
creation  of  a  professorship  of  forestry  at  Oxford  ; 
the  establishment  of  a  National  Institute  of 
Agricultural  Botany  for  the  purpose  of  developing 
agriculture  at  Cambridge ;  and  in  the  general 
movement  in  regard  to  conservation  of  forests, 
especially  in  America.  Experiments  with  the 
object  of  increased  production  by  scientific  farm- 
ing on  the  lines  initiated  at  Rothamsted  Farm  at 
Harpenden  by  Sir  John  Bennet  Lawes  open  up 
many  possibilities.  And  along  with  increased 
production  goes  more  economic  utilization,  of  coal, 
for  instance.  The  obtaining  of  wealth  from  waste 

1  Speaking  in  December  1919. 
106 


Spheres  of  Reorganisation 

is  another  aspect  of  the  question  of  the  use  of 
materials  ultimately  obtained  from  the  earth, 
and  many  lessons  have  been  gleaned  from  war 
efforts  as  to  methods  of  doing  this. 

Passing  from  the  products  of  the  earth  to 
man's  handiwork  upon  it,  we  may  take  BUILDING 
AND  SURVEYING  as  the  next  sphere  wherein 
reorganisation  is  taking  place.  Here  town  planning 
and  city  design  includes  not  only  the  arranging 
of  new  towns,  but  also  the  clearing  away  of  slums 
and  the  beautifying  of  existing  towns.  Garden 
cities  and  suburbs  are  being  planned  all  over  the 
country,  and  with  these  plans  are  included  housing 
improvements  and  the  beautifying  of  work-places. 
In  co-ordination  with  all  this  architectural  effort 
of  the  public  should  be  the  various  Art  Schools 
and  Art  Associations  of  the  country.  Why  should 
not  members  of  the  Royal  Academy,  for  instance, 
show  their  citizen  spirit  by  using  their  talents  for 
the  public  benefit  in  works  connected  with  public 
improvements  ? 

The  application  of  Geography  to  Civic  problems 
is  being  practised  more  and  more,  and  such  men 
as  Professor  Geddes,  Mr.  Mackinder,  and  Mr.  C.  B. 
Fawcett  have  studied  devolution  from  its  geo- 
graphical aspect.  Professor  Geddes  has  suggested 
the  term  "  Conurbations  "  for  the  groups  of  cities, 

towns,  and  villages  which  have  grown  round  the 

107 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

great  coal-fields,  and  has  prophesied  that  the 
future  will  see  them  with  a  common  local  authority, 
common  water,  gas,  and  electricity  supply,  a 
common  transport  system,  etc.  ;  Mr.  Mackinder 
discusses  the  possible  federalisation  of  the  United 
Kingdom  ;  and  Mr.  Fawcett  offers  a  solution  by 
the  division  into  provinces  according  to  geo- 
graphical features. 

Regional  Survey  is  now  even  introduced  into 
some  schools,  and  the  day  will  come  when  every 
district  will  be  surveyed  from  all  points  of  view. 
But  the  human  aspect  must  not  be  forgotten  in 
this  connection  ;  and  a  Civic  survey  should  result 
in  more  than  geographical  analysis,  and  should 
include  some  account  of  the  general  human 
characteristics  expressed  in  the  district,  as  well 
as  the  biography  of  any  inhabitants  who  have 
become  noted  or  have  worked  worthily.  Human 
Geography  is  in  reality  a  great  and  penetrating 
survey,  and  Professor  Fleure,  of  Aberystwyth,  has 
shown  the  method  of  dealing  with  so  enormous 
a  subject,  which  touches  on  so  many  others. 
Le  Play's  great  generalisation,  that  the  environ- 
ment indirectly  affects  civilisation  through  the 
prevailing  industry,  is  essentially  a  generalisation 
belonging  to  human  geography. 

Claiming  our  attention  next  is  the  vitally 
important  sphere  of  EDUCATION.  Its  impor- 

108 


Spheres  of  Reorganisation 

tance  can  scarcely  be  overestimated,  for  educa- 
tion is  concerned  with  the  coming  generation, 
the  makers  of  the  future,  those  who  will  carry 
out  the  plans  of  the  present  and  bring  its  ideals 
nearer  to  realisation.  For  this  reason  too  much 
thought  cannot  be  exercised  on  the  training  of 
young  citizenhood.  We  have  begun  to  provide 
a  certain  amount  of  continued  education,  but  it 
will  have  to  be  extended  and  enlarged.  The 
danger  here  is  that  persons  with  academic  qualifi- 
cations, but  without  the  right  sense  of  citizenship, 
may  capture  the  continuation  schools,  as  many 
have  captured  the  secondary  schools  ;  but  that 
condition  of  affairs  can  be  but  temporary,  for 
an  instructed  citizenhood  will  arise  to  demand 
common-sense  treatment  of  youth,  and  a  greater 
co-ordination  of  subjects  to  one  another  and  to 
outer  life.  The  Civics  student  will  already  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that,  judged  from  the 
standpoint  of  citizenship,  "  subjects  "  in  schools 
are  too  much  separated  from  one  another,  and  that, 
as  the  whole  story  of  civilisation  is  one,  so  the 
separate  subjects,  which  are  in  reality  a  record 
of  the  achievements  of  humanity,  should  not  be 
isolated,  but  should  each  show  its  relation- 
ship to  the  great  whole.  The  young  citizen  would 
then  leave  school  with  the  sense  that  all  he  has 

learnt  has  been  of  use  in  preparing  him  for  his 

109 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

later  life  and  work ;  and  it  is  only  those  with 
experience  of  a  wider  life  that  can  produce  that 
sense  in  him.  Part-time  education  will  also 
extend  to  further  education  for  all,  at  first  to  the 
age  of  sixteen  and  then  to  eighteen ;  and  this 
education  should  include  some  training  for  future 
work.  Adult  education  is  also  to  be  included 
here,  and  that  may  well  take  the  form  of  education 
in  Civics,  the  most  important  subject  for  complete 
citizenhood. 

Methods  of  work  and  discipline  are  continually 
being  improved  and  rethought-out,  and  the 
Montessori  ideas  are  only  one  instance  of  experi- 
ments that  are  being  made.  In  every  department 
of  education,  however,  the  most  advanced  and 
philosophic  thinkers  are  agreed  that  all  reforms 
must  subordinate  themselves  to  the  great  aim  of  the 
whole  of  education,  conceptions  as  to  which  are 
still  vague  and  differing.  If  educational  associa- 
tions were  asked  to  define  such  a  general  aim  for 
the  education  of  all  young  citizens,  the  first  half- 
dozen  would  probably  give  very  different  answers. 
One  aim  often  put  forward  is  that  of  self-develop- 
ment ;  the  child  is  to  be  trained  so  that  all  its 
innate  capacities  are  fully  developed.  But  to 
what  purpose  are  these  faculties  to  be  trained, 
and  to  what  use  are  they  to  be  put  ?  Self-develop- 
ment may  in  itself  prove  to  be  an  evil,  as  highly 

no 


Spheres  of  Reorganisation 

developed  faculties  used  for  egoistic  purposes  may 
perform  more  harm  than  less  developed  ones. 
By  all  means  let  faculties  be  trained,  but  let  there 
be  a  definite  purpose  in  view — their  use  for  the 
benefit  of  the  community.  No  one  has  expressed 
the  great  ideal  of  education  more  admirably  than 
Mr.  F.  J.  Gould  l  ;  he  speaks  of — 

a  principle  which  should  be  acceptable  to  all  forms  of 
thought  and  faith,  which  should  govern  the  procedure 
in  all,  and  yet  leave  ample  room  for  differentiation  accord- 
ing to  local  temperament,  manners,  customs,  and  traditions. 
The  principle  is  Service,  based  on  Industry  and  inspired 
by  History ;  and  by  Service  we  understand  the  duties 
and  efficiencies  of  the  Household,  the  Village,  the  City, 
the  Country,  the  Federal  Commonwealth.  .  .  .  Industry 
embraces  all  activities — agricultural,  manufacturing,  organ- 
ising, scientific,  artistic,  educational — which  make  for 
health  and  betterment,  physical  and  moral.  .  .  .  History 
means  the  whole  story  of  man's  soul  from  primitive  ages 
to  yesterday,  in  its  struggle  towards  the  True,  the  Beautiful, 
and  the  Good. 

"  Service  of  the  Commonwealth,  based  on  Industry 
and  inspired  by  History,"  is  a  brief,  plain,  and 
satisfying  principle  which  all  can  accept  with 
dignity. 

At  present  the  teaching  profession  is  separated 
into  too  many  groups,  and  it  needs  unifying 
by  making  all  teachers,  elementary,  secondary, 
technical,  and  university,  into  civil  servants  with 
responsibilities  directly  to  the  nation.  But  the 

J  In  his  British  Education  after  the  War. 
in 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

teachers  must  not  become  an  isolated  body ; 
their  own  need  and  that  of  the  community  is  that 
the  entire  educational  system  should  be  related 
to  all  the  other  organs  of  culture  and  industry. 
It  is  not  seemly  that  teachers  should  control 
education ;  the  control  should  come  from  the 
nation  as  a  whole,  and  a  so-called  "  expert  "  on 
education  may  give  advice  that  might  end  in 
educational  disaster.  Those  teachers  who  are 
most  progressive  and  cultured  in  the  true  sense 
will  acknowledge  this,  for  they  will  comprehend 
that  education  is  but  one  section,  though  a  most 
important  one,  of  national  life.  No  exception 
must  be  made  to  the  rule  that  all  institutions  and 
movements  must  support  the  welfare  of  the  whole. 
As  education  can  be  looked  upon  as  one  basis 
of  the  future,  so  INDUSTRY  can  be  regarded  as 
the  basis  of  all  life,  for  without  the  vital  industries 
associated  with  the  land,  mines,  food,  clothing, 
housing,  and  transport,  the  world  could  not  be 
kept  going.  It  is  in  this  sphere  that  the  greatest 
changes  and  the  most  drastic  reorganisation 
seem  imminent,  and  that  most  signs  of  distur- 
bance appear.  A  grasp  of  the  tendencies  in  the 
world  of  industry  will  enable  the  citizen  to  deal 
with  some  adequacy  with  the  various  crises  as 
they  arise,  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  new  order, 
so  that  it  may  come  as  a  growth  rather  than  a 

112 


Spheres  of  Reorganisation 

revolution.  Economics  necessarily  plays  a  great 
part  here,  but  something  has  already  been  said 
on  that  aspect  in  the  chapter  on  Social  Ideas. 
It  may  be  added  that  indirectly  connected  with 
the  realm  of  economics  is  the  sense  of  obligation, 
slowly  spreading  among  citizens,  that  all  should 
work  at  something  useful  to  the  community,  either 
with  hands  or  brain,  either  within  or  without  the 
home,  for  the  sustenance  of  life,  or  its  recreation 
or  its  beautification. 

The  Trade  Union  and  Co-operative  movements 
had  their  origin  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and 
are  now  established  and  doing  eminent  service 
to  the  world  of  industry.  Within  the  trade 
unions  themselves  is  coming  the  recognition  of 
the  duty  of  the  workers  to  help  forward  the  whole 
of  their  class  and  not  merely  to  agitate  for  those 
in  their  particular  industry,  as  has  hitherto  been 
too  often  the  custom.  The  gigantic  federations 
of  labour,  such  as  the  "  triple  alliance  "  of  the 
Miners'  Federation,  the  National  Union  of  Rail- 
waymen,  and  the  National  Transport  Workers' 
Federation,  have  in  the  past  been  tending  to  prove 
themselves  an  aristocracy  of  labour,  from  whom 
the  class  below  received  but  little  help.  But 
some  of  those  in  the  industrial  world  are  themselves 
now  endeavouring  to  check  any  exclusiveness. 

Recent  strikes  have  also  brought  to  the  front 
113  H 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

the  question  of  the  welfare  of  the  whole  com- 
munity in  connection  with  that  of  a  section  of 
workers ;  and  the  advocates  of  direct  action  are 
faced  with  the  fact  that  on  the  one  hand  a  strike 
is  more  harmful  to  those  who  work  than  to  those 
whom  it  is  meant  to  harm,  and  on  the  other  hand 
constitutional  means  are  now  possible  by  which 
control  of  legislation  and  administration  can  be 
gained — means  which  have  not  yet  been  fully 
developed  and  used.  At  the  present  time  the 
question  of  nationalisation  (which  is  not  the  same 
as  State  Control)  is  of  pressing  importance ;  and 
connected  with  this  are  the  movements  of  Socialism 
and  the  newer  proposal  of  National  Guilds.  It  is 
essential  that  the  citizen  should  have  clear  notions 
as  to  the  meaning  and  purpose  of  these  movements, 
and  understand  what  they  do  not  mean  as  well  as 
what  they  stand  for.  For  example,  Socialism  does 
not  mean  the  gradual  betterment  of  social  con- 
ditions, which  is  the  Social  Reform  advocated 
by  Liberalism  ;  nor  does  it  mean  Communism,  or 
the  common  ownership  practised  by  the  early 
Christian  societies,  which  were  religious  and  not 
civic  groups ;  nor  is  it  Collectivism,  or  the  vesting 
of  the  means  of  production  in  the  hands  of  govern- 
ment or  municipalities,  which  might  result  in  what 
Mr.  Belloc  has  called  the  servile  State.  To-day 
Socialism  might  be  defined  in  a  broad  practical 

114 


Spheres  of  Reorganisation 

sense  as  such  public  ownership  and  control  of  the 
vital  industries  connected  with  land,  mines,  food, 
clothing,  housing,  and  transport,  as  sooner  or  later 
dispenses  with  the  system  of  profit,  rent,  interest, 
and  wages.  England  has,  of  all  countries,  produced 
the  greatest  number  of  differing  types  of  Socialists, 
as  the  very  names  of  Keir  Hardie,  William  Morris, 
and  H.  M.  Hyndman  show. 

National  Guildism  is  distinct  from  Syndicalism, 
which  means  the  control  of  any  industry  by  the 
workers  in  it,  free  from  interference  by  the  owners 
or  the  State.  But  the  National  Guilds  movement 
sees  the  danger  in  this  method  of  control  solely 
from  within  each  industry,  and  proposes  that  all 
industries,  whether  manual  or  mental,  should 
control  their  own  management  and  working  in 
friendly  relation  with  other  guilds  and  with  the 
people  at  large.  In  other  words,  the  State  would 
own  and  regulate  the  general  system  and  its 
interactions,  but  would  not  interfere  with  internal 
control.  The  National  Guild  movement  is  in  its 
infancy,  but  it  has  an  important  future,  as  it  moves 
with  two  tendencies  of  the  times — that  of  nation- 
alisation and  that  of  self-government  by  the 
workers — and  seeks  to  combine  them. 

The  last  sphere  to  be  mentioned  wherein  re- 
organisation is  taking  place  is  that  of  CONSTI- 
TUTIONAL and  SOCIAL  IDEALS.  Of  con- 

"5 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

stitutional  changes  that  are  taking  place,  the  one 
of  devolution  in  all  governmental  departments  is 
of  great  significance.  There  is  a  tendency  to 
allocate  authority  from  a  central  to  a  smaller 
unit,  and  that  not  only  with  regard  to  the  national 
government  and  local  authorities,  but  also  in 
connection  with  imperial  authority.  The  method 
of  "Home  Rule  all  Round"  has  now  come  into 
the  sphere  of  practical  politics,  and  some  citizens 
have  long  seen  in  it  the  only  solution  of  the  Irish 
difficulty .  This  is,  however,  but  one  instance  of 
the  devolution  that  is  spreading  generally,  and 
that  is  in  no  sense  contradictory  to  the  tendency 
towards  nationalisation.  In  a  philosophic  sense 
the  tendencies  are  similar,  for  the  one  means  the 
self-government  of  workers  in  their  own  industries, 
and  the  other  the  self-government  of  peoples  in 
their  own  countries ;  and  both  have  to  consider 
the  larger  whole  of  which  they  are  a  part. 

The  previous  chapter  has  dealt  with  several 
social  ideals ;  but  mention  should  be  made  of  the 
responsibility,  which  is  extending  and  increasing, 
felt  by  the  more  civilised  races  regarding  their 
treatment  of  the  more  backward  ones,  a  responsi- 
bility that  has  been  forced  into  notice  by  some 
of  the  results  of  the  war.  Not  only  is  there  felt 
a  responsibility  towards  the  less  advanced  among 
Humanity's  sons  and  daughters,  but  the  sense 

116 


Spheres  of  Reorganisation 

spreads  to  itself,  and,  as  was  mentioned  in  the 
previous  chapter,  Humanity  realises  that  it  is 
responsible  for  its  own  destiny.  The  forces  are 
present,  and  the  rest  is  a  question  of  direction  ; 
and  self-direction  will  be  accomplished  when  a 
general  conviction  of  the  essential  unity  of  our 
race  has  arisen. 

The  foregoing  are  very  scanty  sketches  of  the 
spheres  wherein  reorganisation  is  taking  place. 
Let  it  be  noted  that  the  factors  and  sections 
enumerated  are  not  those  wherein  some  may 
think  changes  should  take  place,  but  they  are 
spheres  wherein  change  is  actually  taking  place 
now.  In  other  words,  the  various  signs  of  the 
times  have  been  gathered  together  and  classified, 
and  an  attempt  has  been  made  at  some  interpre- 
tation ;  nothing  has  been  invented  or  culled  from 
Utopia.  Even  when  the  present  buddings  have 
reached  fruition,  more  developments,  as  yet  unseen, 
will  make  their  appearance,  for  with  life  there  is 
always  a  grand  unfinish. 

Among  the  various  schemes  surrounding  him, 
how  can  the  citizen  choose  wisely  those  which 
will  make  for  civilisation  ?  There  are  two  main 
standards  by  which  to  judge  whether  reforms  are 
in  the  stream  of  tendencies  working  for  progress. 
The  first  criterion  raises  the  question  of  the  past : 

117 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

Is  this  scheme  in  harmony  with  the  historical 
and  psychological  development  of  the  nation  ? 
Sudden  schemes  not  based  on  the  foundations  of 
previous  history,  on  the  facts,  past  and  present, 
of  the  case,  must  be  rejected.  Reformers  are 
usually  idealists,  but  to  be  effective  they  must 
be  realists  as  well,  for  no  revolution  can  be  forced 
on  a  people  unprepared  or  unwilling.  As  an 
example,  the  instance  of  Bolshevism  in  Russia 
might  be  quoted.  In  England  Bolshevism  (which 
the  citizen  should  realise  is  not  the  same  as 
Socialism)  could  never  succeed,  even  temporarily, 
for  our  national  history  has  been  greatly  different 
from  that  of  Russia,  and  our  national  consciousness 
is  not  the  same  as  that  of  such  a  land  of  villages 
and  peasants.  A  proposed  change  may  be  neces- 
sary in  one  country,  but  be  quite  out  of  the  line 
of  advancement  in  another ;  for  each  has  its  own 
historical  evolution  and  psychological  develop- 
ment, which  the  Civics  student  may  discover  by 
studying  the  thought  and  work  of  those  who 
express  their  country's  spirit. 

The  second  criterion  deals  with  present  and 
future  conditions.  Just  as  the  test  of  the  strength 
of  a  chain  is  its  weakest  link,  so  the  test  of  the 
well-being  of  a  nation  is  the  condition  of  the 
class  that  is  worst  off.  The  stage  of  civilisation 
reached  by  any  society  is  judged  by  this  standard. 

nS 


Spheres  of  Reorganisation 

Therefore  no  scheme  should  be  tolerated  in 
which  benefit  to  one  section  of  the  community  is 
allied  with  detriment  to  a  weaker  section.  That 
is  exploitation,  and  not  to  be  allowed  by  citizens 
who  care  for  their  country's  honour.  Exploitation 
of  the  poor  by  the  rich  ;  of  the  weak  by  the  strong, 
whether  the  strength  be  in  physique,  or  mentality, 
or  organisation  ;  of  the  "  masses  "  by  the  "  intel- 
lectuals "  ;  of  individuals  by  other  individuals,  or 
classes  by  other  classes ;  exploitation  of  the  work, 
or  brains,  or  energies  of  others ;  exploitation  of 
any  kind,  in  any  sphere,  is,  in  the  realm  of 
citizenship,  the  unpardonable  sin. 


119 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

BOOKS   RECOMMENDED   FOR   THE  STUDY 
OF   CIVICS 

(This  is  not  an  exhaustive  list,  but  a  selection  of  those  boohs 
likely  to  be  found  in  any  good  public  library.) 

INTRODUCTORY   and  GENERAL 

Sociological  Papers.  Vols.  I  to  III  (Macmillan) .  (Con- 
tain valuable  articles  by  Professor  Patrick  Geddes 
and  others.) 

Interpretations  and  Forecasts.  Victor  Branford  (Duck- 
worth). (Essays  on  various  aspects  of  citizenship, 
considering  the  citizen  from  different  points  of  view 
and  at  different  periods.) 

The  Living  Past.  F.  S.  Marvin  (Clarendon  Press).  (Shows 
the  general  characteristics  of  each  age  in  the  world's 
history  and  its  influence  on  the  present.) 

The  Century  of  Hope.  F.  S.  Marvin  (Clarendon  Press). 
(Gives  a  general  survey  of  the  achievements  of  the 
nineteenth  century.) 

Discovery  :  the  Spirit  and  Service  of  Science.  Sir  Richard 
Gregory  (Macmillan). 

The  Masque  of  Ancient  Learning. 

The  Masque  of  Medicsval  and  Modern  Learning.  Patrick 
Geddes  (Outlook  Tower,  Edinburgh).  (A  picturesque 
treatment  of  culture  throughout  the  ages  with  inter- 
pretations from  the  civic  standpoint.) 

121 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

Social  England.     H.    J.   Traill    (Cassell).     (A   very   good 
reference  book.) 

A    Short   History    of   the    English  People.     J.   R.   Green 
(Macmillan) . 


THE    FAMILY 

The  Family  in  its  Sociological  Aspects.  J.  Q.  Dealy 
(Harrap).  (Deals  very  well  with  primitive  times 
and  considers  some  modern  problems.) 

The  Family.  Helen  Bosanquet  (Macmillan).  (Contains 
sketches  of  family  conditions  at  different  periods.) 


THE    VILLAGE 

The  Greek  Tradition.  J.  A.  K.  Thomson  (Allen  & 
Unwin) .  (Gives  realistic  and  unconventional  pictures 
of  village  life  in  ancient  Greece.) 

The  Way  of  Peace.  H.  Fielding  Hall  (Hurst  &  Blackett). 
(Chapter  II  deals  with  villages  in  general.) 

The  Village  Community.  Sir  L.  Gomme  (Scott).  (Sketches 
the  origin  and  development  of  British  villages.) 

Kingham  :  Old  and  New.  W.  Warde  Fowler  (Oxford 
University  Press).  (An  interesting  account  of  a 
typical  English  village  and  its  development.) 

Problems  of  Village  Life.  E.  N.  Bennett  (Home  University 
Library.  Williams  &  Norgate).  (Traces  the  history 
of  English  villages  and  discusses  present  conditions.) 

The  Village  Labourer.  J.  L.  and  B.  Hammond  (Longmans). 
(A  very  good  history  of  village  conditions  during  the 
years  1760  to  1832.) 

122 


Bibliography 

TOWN  and  CITIES 

Town  Study.  M.  M.  Penstone  (National  Society's 
Depository).  (A  very  good  introduction  to  the  sub- 
ject. Suitable  for  the  use  of  teachers.) 

The  Meaning  of  History.  Frederic  Harrison  (Macmillan). 
(Contains  a  valuable  chapter  on  "  The  City  :  Ancient, 
Mediaeval,  Modern,  Ideal.") 

Cities  in  Evolution.  P.  Geddes  (Williams  &  Norgate). 
(An  excellent  book.) 

The  Making  of  London.     Sir  L.  Gomme  (Clarendon  Press). 
The  Story  of  Coventry.     Miss  Dormer  Harris  (Dent). 
The  Story  of  Cambridge.     G.  W.  Stubbs  (Dent).     (Contain 
good  accounts  of  town  life  in  mediaeval  times.) 

The  Old  Guilds  of  England.    F.  Armitage  (Weare). 

Restoration  of  the  Gild  System.  A.  J.  Penty  (Sonnenschein). 
(Chapter  IV  gives  a  good  account  of  mediaeval  gilds.) 

EXHIBITIONS,    SURVEYS,    TOWN    PLANNING 

Two  Steps  in  Civics.  P.  Geddes  (Outlook  Tower,  Edin- 
burgh). (A  pamphlet  describing  a  Town  Planning 
Exhibition  and  the  International  Congress  of  Cities 
in  1913-) 

A  Suggested  Plan  for  a  Civic  Museum.  P.  Geddes  (Outlook 
Tower,  Edinburgh.) 

A  Conference  on  Regional  Survey.     H.  J.  Fleure  (Philip). 

A  First  Visit  to  the  Outlook  Tower.  (Outlook  Tower, 
Edinburgh) . 

Garden  Cities  of  To-morrow.  Ebenezer  Howard  (Allen 
&  Unwin). 

Town  Planning.     G.  Cadbury   (Longmans). 

123 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

Town  Planning  in  Practice.  Raymond  Unwin  (Fisher 
Unwin) . 

Transactions  of  the  Town-Planning  Conference  (Royal 
Institute  of  British  Architects).  (The  Conference 
was  held  in  1910,  and  the  book  contains  many  valu- 
able illustrations.) 

The  Town  Planning  Review.     A  quarterly  journal. 


LOCAL    GOVERNMENT 

Outlines  of  English  Local  Government.  E.  Jenks  (Methuen). 
(Traces  the  history  of  the  various  kinds  of  local 
government.) 

English  Local  Government.    R.  C.  Maxwell  (Dent). 
Outlines   of  Local   Government.     J.    J.    Clarke    (Pitman). 
(Handy  little  books  for  reference.) 

English  Political  Institutions.  J.  A.  R.  Marriott  (Clarendon 
Press).  (Chapters  XII  and  XIII  deal  adequately 
with  local  government  and  its  history.  The  book  is 
also  useful  for  national  government.) 

The  Common  Sense  of  Municipal  Trading.  G.  B.  Shaw 
(Fifield). 

THE    STATE 

The  City  States  of  Greece  and  Rome.  W.  Warde  Fowler 
(Macmillan).  (Very  good  account  of  their  origin, 
general  conditions  and  dissolution.) 

The  State.  Woodrow  Wilson  (Heath).  (Historical  sketch 
of  early  States  and  present  government  of  modern 
European  States.) 

The  State  and  the  Nation.  E.  Jenks  (Dent).  (Traces  the 
evolution  of  the  State  from  the  patriarchal  system — 
a  very  good  book.) 

124 


Bibliography 


Parliament.  Sir  C.  P.  Ilbert. 
Conservatism.  Lord  H.  Cecil. 
Liberalism.  L.  T.  Hobhouse. 
The  Navy  and  Sea  Power.  D.  Hannay. 

(Home  University  Library.    Williams  &  Norgate.) 

Select  Passages  on  Duty  to  the  State.  ].  G.  Jennings  (Oxford 
University  Press) .  (Contains  excellent  selections  from 
authors  throughout  the  ages  of  interest  to  citizens.) 

Introduction  to  the  History  of  the  Science  of  Politics. 
Sir  F.  Pollock  (Macmillan). 


INDUSTRY    and    THE    WORKERS 

Social  Life  in  Rome  at  the  Time  of  Cicero.  W.  Warde 
Fowler  (Macmillan) .  (Discusses  the  practice  of  slavery 
and  the  condition  of  slaves.) 

Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages.  Thorold  Rogers  (Fisher 
Unwin).  (Contains  interesting  points  on  the  com- 
parative values  of  money.) 

The  Town  Labourer.  J.  L.  and  B.  Hammond  (Longmans). 
(This  and  the  work  on  the  Village  Labourer  are  two 
of  the  best  books  on  the  subject.) 

English  Sea  Voyages  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  W.  Raleigh 
(MacLehose). 

History  of  Trade  Unionism.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webb  (Long- 
mans). 

History  of  Co-operation.    G.  J.  Holyoake  (Fisher  Unwin). 

Revolutionary  Syndicalism.  J.  A.  Estey  (King).  (Clear 
historical  account,  chiefly  connected  with  France.) 

Economics  of  Socialism.  H.  M.  Hyndman  (Twentieth 
Century  Press). 

125 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

EDUCATION 

The  Schools  of  Hellas.  K.  J.  Freeman  (Macmillan).  (Gives 
the  aims  and  methods  of  Athenian  and  Spartan 
education  for  citizenship.) 

Roman  Education.  A.  S.  Wilkins  (Cambridge  University 
Press).  (A  useful  sketch.) 

Vittorino  da  Feltre.  W.  H.  Woodward  (Cambridge  Uni- 
versity Press).  (Shows  the  condition  of  learning  on 
the  Continent  at  the  Renaissance.) 

The  Schools  of  Medieval  England.    A.  F.  Leach  (Methuen) . 

Education  in  the  Middle  Ages.  A.  W.  Parry  (University 
Tutorial  Press). 

A  Short  History  of  Education.  G.  Benson  Clough  (Holland) . 
(Useful  for  reference  as  to  dates  of  Education  Acts, 
etc.,  in  England.) 

Workers'  Educational  Association  Year  Book.  (Sketches 
present  educational  conditions,  societies,  etc.) 


BRITISH    COMMONWEALTH 

The  British  Empire  :  its  Past,  Present  and  Future.  Edited 
by  A.  F.  Pollard  (League  of  the  Empire).  (Short 
sketches  of  the  history,  mainly  from  a  constitutional 
point  of  view.) 

The  Commonwealth  of  Nations.  L.  Curtis  (Macmillan). 
(Traces  the  history,  with  interesting  discussion.) 

The  Problem  of  the  Commonwealth.  L.  Curtis  (Macmillan). 
(Both  of  Mr.  Curtis's  books  have  very  good  diagrams 
of  populations,  areas,  etc.) 

The    Round    Table.     (A    quarterly    journal    dealing    with 
affairs  of  the  Commonwealth.) 
126 


Bibliography 


For  more  detailed  history  see  "  The  English  People  Over- 
seas "  Series  (Constable). 


REORGANISATION 

An  Alphabet  of  Economics.  A.  R.  Orage  (Fisher  Unwin). 
(Explains  the  various  terms  in  economics  from  the 
point  of  view  of  a  National  Guildsman.) 

The  Meaning  of  Industrial  Freedom.  G.  D.  H.  Cole  and 
W.  Mellor  (Allen  &  Unwin).  (A  pamphlet  concisely 
putting  the  case  for  National  Guilds.) 

The  Meaning  of  National  Guilds.  M.  B.  Reckitt  and 
C.  E.  Bechhofer  (Cecil  Palmer). 

Roads  to  Freedom.  Bertrand  Russell  (Allen  &  Dnwin). 
(Gives  the  salient  features  of  Socialism,  Anarchism, 
etc.) 

Wealth  from  Waste.  H.  J.  Spooner  (Routledge).  (Shows 
how  much  that  is  now  wasted  might  be  utilised.) 

Can  We  Set  the  World  in  Order?  E.  R.  Enock  (Grant 
Richards).  (Reveals  the  untouched  resources  of  the 
world.) 

The  Spiritual  Foundations  of  Reconstruction.  F,  H. 
Hayward  and  A.  Freeman  (King).  (Discusses  four 
original  proposals  for  reconstruction  in  education.) 

British  Education  After  the  War.  F.  J.  Gould  (Watts). 
(A  comprehensive  survey  pleading  for  unity  of  aim — 
a  most  valuable  contribution  to  the  literature  of 
education.) 

History  the  Teacher  :  Education  Inspired  by  Humanity's 
Story.  F.  J.  Gould  (Methuen).  (The  education  of 
the  future  will  develop  along  the  lines  sketched  in 
this  book.) 

127 


The  Philosophy  of  Citizenship 

The  Progress  of  Eugenics.  C.  W.  Saleeby  (Cassell). 
(Sketches  the  history  of  the  eugenics  movement  and 
explains  its  aims.) 

Papers  for  the  Present.  (Headley  Brothers.)  (A  series 
of  pamphlets  dealing  with  present-day  questions. 
Especially  good  is  A  Citizen  Soldier,  an  account  of 
the  education  of  Alastair  Geddes.) 

The  Making  of  the  Future  Series.  (Williams  &  Norgate.) 
Edited  by  P.  Geddes  and  V.  Branford.  Discuss 
reconstruction  from  a  civic  standpoint.  Volumes 
which  have  already  appeared  are  : — 

The  Coming  Polity.     P.  Geddes  and  V.  Branford. 
Ideas  at  War.     P.  Geddes  and  G.  Slater. 
Human   Geography   of   Western   Europe.      H.    J, 

Fleure. 

The  Provinces  of  England.    C.  B.  Fawcett. 
Our    Social    Inheritance.      P.    Geddes     and    V. 

Branford. 


Printed  in  Great  Britain  by 

UHWIN  BROTHERS,  LIMITED,  THE  GRESHAM  PRESS,  WOKING  AWD  MWDON 


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